Did his e-mail help Sourav return?

Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly's elder brother Snehashis Ganguly and relatives see his selection to the list of probables for the Champions' Trophy a result of his merit and experience and not because of the controversial e-mail that he had sent before the CAB elections.

"The email and his selection are two different things and should be seen separately. There are no relations whatsoever among them," Snehashis said.

"Sourav is a great player and his selection should be seen for cricketing reasons only," he added.

Debashis Ganguly, Sourav's maternal-uncle, said, "The e-mail has nothing to do with his selection. It will be wrong to connect them. Sourav is a great champion and his experience and calibre could not be ignored while the selection was done. That is there reason he is in the team of probables. Now, we hope he will be there in the 16-member team also."

Meanwhile, former Test cricketers from Bengal expressed their satisfaction at Ganguly's selection and hoped the cricketer would make a fantastic comeback utilising this opportunity.

Pranab Roy said: "This is a great opportunity for Sourav and he should make the best opportunity of it."

Ashok Malhotra, former Test cricketer and national selector, said: "Budhdhadeb Bhattacharjee is a progressive Chief Minister and Sourav Ganguly is the best-ever cricketer from Bengal and they should not be linked together. Sourav has got an opportunity to prove his class and he should leave his stamp on it."

Test cricketer-turned-commentator Arun Lal said: "We are all fighting for ourselves. Jagmohan Dalmiya as an administrator, Sourav Ganguly as a cricketer and me as a commentator. None is linked. I wish Sourav luck and hope he proves himself."

Meanwhile, Cricket Association of Bengal Secretary Saradindu Pal only had a line to say, "Better late than never."

He also appreciated the fact that S S Paul was also called in the camp of probabbles. Sourav Ganguly and S S Paul feature in the 30-member probables named at the training camp at Bangalore.

People had been linking the controversial e-mail from the former skipper that indirectly indicated at Jagmohan Dalmiya's hand in cutting short Ganguly's career to his place in the probable list.