Sourav will play at Chennai today

NEW DELHI: In one of his first moves as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Sharad Pawar has brokered a peace deal between former captain Sourav Ganguly, skipper Rahul Dravid, coach Greg Chappell, and chairman of selectors Kiran More.

 

Under this deal, Ganguly will be included in the playing eleven to be announced on Friday morning for the first Test against Sri Lanka. And, unless he is a spectacular flop, he will be playing in the remaining two Tests as well, the team for which will be declared in the next few days.

 

Pawar's aides said the new BCCI president is anxious to defuse the tension that has crept into Indian cricket in recent months. Sources in the Mumbai Cricket Association said he was emphatic that there should be no witch-hunt against the former captain, even though a new selection committee has come into place with the three selectors known to be close to Ganguly being shown the door.

 

Apparently, Pawar had been discussing the Ganguly issue at length with cricket aficionados in the MCA in the days preceding the election.

 

By giving Ganguly a fair chance to prove his form and fitness, Pawar hopes to restore the equilibrium of the team and the BCCI. Both were badly split as Jagmohan Dalmiya tried to hold on to his fiefdom.

 

The Bengali lobby in the ruling UPA coalition at the Centre may have also played a role in ensuring a level playing field for Ganguly. With parochial sentiments exploding in ugly scenes in sports-loving Kolkata, the lobby urged Pawar to intervene and bridge the regional divide.