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Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday saluted VVS Laxman for his contribution to the game and said he has sent out a "strong and clear" message to the selectors by quitting international cricket with immediate effect.
"It's a tough decision, a fantastic decision. He is 200 per cent right... hats off," Ganguly said.
Regretting that selection panel chairman Krishnamachari Srikkanth had problem in communicating, Ganguly said the selectors should have informed Laxman in advance much before the selection of the team for New Zealand that they wanted it to be his farewell series.
“You can’t expect a player like Laxman to train hard to keep himself fit for only two Tests. I am surprised the selectors divulged the matter only this month. And this I think has hurt him very much,” he said.
Lashing out at the selectors, Ganguly said they always go for a balancing act and do not concentrate on building a team for the future. “They axe one player, include another. Indian cricket cannot go ahead in this manner.”
Ganguly criticised the skipper for not being available to his players all the time. “A skipper should be available 24 hours. I don’t know why Dhoni does this... But I think the situation would have been different, had Laxman got Dhoni’s support,” he said.
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