Ganga Gets The Call to Replace Lara

The West Indies selectors have named Trinidad & Tobago opener Daren Ganga to take Brian Lara's place on the tour to India.

Ganga, who captained the West Indies 'A' team tour to England/Canada, was chosen after consultations between the three selectors -- Sir Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, 'Joey' Carew -- and West Indies skipper Carl Hooper. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will make the announcement official on Monday.

According to those in the know, the choice of Lara's replacement was a three-way battle between Ganga, Grenadian Devon Smith and Jamaican opener Leon Garrick. Because of the uncertainty over Smith's injured back, the selectors opted not to consider him, according to WICB insiders.

Ganga was then picked ahead of Garrick, a decision that is sure to set off a firestorm of protests and second-guess throughout the Caribbean. The 23-year-old Ganga has been largely a failure in his 15 Tests to date, averaging just 20.15 from 27 innings without a century.

Garrick, on the other hand, has never gotten a real break at Test level, appearing in only one Test against South Africa in the 200/01 series. Garrick's first class numbers -- 2732 runs; avg. 32.14; HS 200* -- are superior to Ganga's but questions over his discipline have dogged his opportunities.

To be fair, Ganga has shown rapid improvements since his last tour -- to Pakistan in Sharjah and Sri Lanka -- and his solid batting on the 'A' team tours must have pushed him ahead of the other contenders.