The three unlikely musketeers of Indian cricket

The ‘royalty’ is back in Indian cricket, now that former captain Sourav Ganguly – nickname ‘Maharaja’ -- has taken charge as the new president of the cashrich BCCI. However, no prizes for guessing it, the stint may be as far removed from the days of nawabi tehzeeb as chalk and cheese.

The occasion does call for drinks – whether to celebrate or drown one’s apprehensions; only one is not clear who will carry the drinks to the field.

In his hey-day, the dressing room buzz was that Ganguly refused to carry drinks for his teammates, commenting that it was not his job to do so; later, it was debunked by him. Nonetheless, he was dropped from the team as he was perceived to be "arrogant" and his attitude towards the game was openly questioned. The royal saga has begun to unfold yet again -- the game will now be run by that ‘prince’ among men (Ganguly) and the ‘king’ (Kohli); and how can one overlook the ‘court jester’ – the eternally ebullient coach Ravi Shastri.

A tempestuous troika is in position. Let the games begin.

But, how good is this hotheaded alliance for Indian cricket? The new BCCI president has said he intends to make Shastri and Kohli’s ‘life easier.’ Fair enough, but what will happen during a rough patch? Which one of the three will keep his shirt on?

Going by track record, the one who is more likely to shed it is Ganguly. His ‘half-Monty’ in the balcony of Lord's, the shirt swirling in the air, following India's memorable victory against England in 2002, is the stuff of folklore. In fact, the enfant terrible himself is on record having said that while he was trying to take his shirt off, VVS Laxman was trying his best to prevent it.

Or will the glorious moment be captured by the one who showed his middle finger to the Oz crowd in 2012, or the one that walks around making unpalatable remarks to the media?

India skipper Virat Kohli's workload could be a topic of discussion while Rishabh Pant could have prolific Sanju Samson for cover during three T20s when the selection committee picks the squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh here on Thursday.

Kohli has featured in 48 out of the 56 games India have played across formats since October 2018. However, the selection committee will leave it on Kohli to decide whether he needs a break or continue playing.

There is expected to be serious discussions about rookie Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dubey, who might replace an injured Hardik Pandya for the all-rounder's slot, primarily based on his big-hitting prowess.

Apart from the three-match T20 series which starts in New Delhi on November 3, followed by matches at Rajkot and Nagpur, Bangladesh will also play two Tests as a part of the World Championship in Indore and Kolkata.

Samson, who recently hit a double hundred for Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, is expected to come in but only as second option to Pant for the time being.

"There is no harm if both Rishabh and Sanju are there in the team. They have played together in IPL also. Rishabh has had limited success in shorter formats but he is a long-term investment and we need to persist with him," a BCCI official privy to developments in selection committee, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

"At the same time, Sanju is a player with game-changing abilities. Keeping World T20 in mind, the team management needs to check other options also as everyone knows that it's time to look beyond Mahendra Singh Dhoni," the source added.

With Kohli not there in the squad, Samson is being seen as a back-up batsman but it will be interesting to see if Manish Pandey retains his place in the squad that played against South Africa.

Mumbai all-rounder Dubey has now pipped Vijay Shankar as the second choice all-rounder in the shortest format, based on big-hitting prowess.