Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday rubbished claims that Rahul Dravid should also call it quits despite a spate of poor scores in the recent past.
"Dravid is a great cricketer with lot of maturity. It will be wrong to say that it's over for him," the Ganguly told reporters after a practice session at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Dravid, who has been an integral part of India's success in overseas Test matches, has 10,366 Test runs under his belt but has managed just two centuries and nine half-centuries in 48 innings he has played in the last two years.
To further add to his woes, the former India skipper's last five innings read a dismal 11, 11, 0, 3 and 3.
But Ganguly, who retired after the Test series against Australia recently, hopes Dravid will return to form soon.
"One should not judge him on account of a few failures. He is having a temporary loss of form and I am sure he'll come up with a big knock soon to silence his critics," Ganguly said.
The former India captain is currently keeping himself in shape and hopes to play in the Ranji Trophy Plate group semi-final and help Bengal return to the Super League.
Ganguly had earlier expressed his desire to turn up against Vidarbha in the Plate group but since Bengal had already made the semi-finals, he chose to wait for the last-four stage encounter.
"I am eager to play for Bengal in the semi-finals. We are currently doing well at the League stage and I am sure we'll make the Super League," Ganguly, who had a rigorous indoor and outdoor session, added.
Asked, whether India should tour Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror strikes, Ganguly declined to comment.
"I am no one to comment on this. It's between the Board and the government. They have to decide on this, I don't want to get into this."
However, Ganguly did condemn the terror attacks.
"It's a heinous act and we must condemn the terrorists who are targeting innocent people."
Asked whether the terror strikes will put a shadow on Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul turning out for his Indian Premier League (IPL) side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Ganguly said there's still plenty of time for the second edition of the Twenty20 competition to begin.
"IPL is still some months to go. I hope things will get normal by then," Ganguly said, adding that Eden will host a KKR camp from January 6 to scout talent from the domestic circuit.
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