Ganguly calls for MacGill's inclusion

Calling Stuart MacGill one of Australia's top spinners, Sourav Ganguly has expressed surprise at their plans to exclude him from the tour to India. He said that the Indians had not noticed other quality spinners in Australia, barring Cameron White, and claimed that playing MacGill and Shane Warne at the same time would be quite a challenge, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Considering MacGill's figures the last time the two teams clashed, Ganguly's comments are unlikely to be taken seriously, and will be perceived as one of many pre-series mind games played out before the Australians arrive in India.

"They must take MacGill. They'll make a big mistake if they don't take MacGill," said Ganguly. "The wickets are going to turn, and he's going to turn it a long way." MacGill's critics would say that taking him would be an equally big mistake, as he averages over 50 with the ball against India.

Ganguly was convinced that Australia needed to pick their best side, even if they swung or turned the ball in the same direction. "I don't understand ... if you can have Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie both swinging the ball away, then why can't you have two legspinners? You pick your four or five best bowlers."

Trevor Hohns had recently said that MacGill was not a certainty for the Indian tour, starting speculation about who the second spinner would be. In the past few series, Australia have opted to play one specialist spinner, and let part-timers turn their arm over.