India captain Sourav Ganguly received yet another tip on how to tide over his current poor form when former India captain and coach Ajit Wadekar suggested that the batsman must concentrate hard at the nets and consider going back to the opening slot to regain his form.
"I think he should immerse himself in practice. He should concentrate hard at the nets to get over the prolonged bad patch," Wadekar told newspersons in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Wadekar felt that the break from the game could prove beneficial to Ganguly.
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However, he blamed the Indian bowlers, Ganguly's teammates and coach John Wright for the ban slapped on the skipper for the team's slow over rate in the fourth one-day international against Pakistan at Ahmedabad.
"Its the fault of his colleagues and coach. The bowlers should also be blamed," he said.
Wadekar said when a captain was on the field, he had so much at hand that it was not possible for him to keep track of things like over rate.
"His colleagues should have informed him. It is also the duty of the coach. He has a laptop to keep track of such things. The coach could have sent someone with a glass of water to the field to convey the message," he said.
Asked whether it would be easier for Ganguly to return to form if we went back to the opener's slot, Wadekar said when a batsman was attuned to a certain batting position, he should stick to it.
"Being the skipper, Ganguly sacrificed his position as opener for players like [Virender] Sehwag. Though he has also got runs in the middle order, perhaps if he starts opening, he can get back to form soon," he said.
He felt that it should not be difficult for Ganguly to get back among runs.
"I don't think that will be difficult. Batsmen from Don Bradman to Sunil Gavaskar have gone through difficult times. In Ganguly's case, the run drought has been extended, may be because being the captain he could not concentrate that much on batting," said Wadekar, under whom India won sensational victories in back-to-back away series against West Indies and England in 1971.
He disagreed that a stint in county cricket would be beneficial for Ganguly. "I think he has passed that stage".
Wadekar, also a stylish left-hand batsman like Ganguly, said when a captain loses form it has more impact on the team.
"It does affect the captaincy, because in his sub-conscious and unconscious state, he may be thinking about it," he said and referred to the Mohali Test against Pakistan last month, where India lost a golden opportunity to win as they failed to take the last three wickets in the second innings.
"We could not take those three wickets as the aggression was lacking," he added.
