Selectors have done a good thing by picking Dravid: Ganguly

Kolkata:

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the selectors have done the right thing by bringing back Rahul Dravid in the one-day side as the veteran batsman is an asset for the team.

"Selectors have done the right thing by getting back (Ashish) Nehra in the earlier series and now (Rahul) Dravid. That's the way to go," Ganguly said.

Dravid, a former India captain who last played an ODI two years back in October 2007, was included in the 15-member squad along with Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested for the West Indies one-dayers.

"It's a good thing for (Rahul) Dravid. Hopefully, if he can play well, he will be an asset to the Indian side. This is the right way," the 37-year-old told reporters at Eden Gardens where the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had organised a condolence meeting for former Sports minister Subhas Chakraborty who died on August 3.

As many as four changes were made to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side for the upcoming Tri-series and ICC Champions Trophy next month, with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja getting the boot following failures in the four-match series in the West Indies, which India won 2-1.

S Badrinath, Murali Vijay and Pragyan Ojha were also shown the door.

The ace left-hander said the Indian team never had senior-junior divide.

"There is nothing like junior and seniors. Whoever performs well should play well and moreover, he is just 36. It's all about performances. But I don't think senior-junior is ever an issue and should never be an issue," said Ganguly.

Asked whether he regretted his retirement, he said, "I have decided not to play anymore. I've retired some nine months ago and it's all past now."

On promising Bengal wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, who was named in the 30-strong list of probables for the Champions Trophy, Ganguly said: "It's unfortunate and he has to wait for his turn. (Wicketkeeper-batsman) Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of the side and (Dinesh) Karthik is doing well at the moment."

Asked about Shah Rukh Khan's grilling at the Newark airport in New Jersey, Ganguly said, "It's a very delicate issue but he is fine at the moment so that's more important. I don't know much about the incident so can't comment much."