Calcutta/Lucknow: Sourav Ganguly continues to make headlines on and off the field. On a day when he did quite well with bat and ball in Karachi, queries on his exclusion from the squad for the ODI series in Pakistan were lobbed at BCCI president Sharad Pawar and chairman of selection committee Kiran More.

Pawar said the decision to leave Sourav out of the ODI squad was unanimous.

“The selection committee conveyed their decision after picking the squad. It was a unanimous decision? I don’t want to interfere in the selection process,” Pawar told newsmen during a visit to Calcutta on Monday.

Pawar said the selection committee didn’t want to disturb the winning ODI combination (against Sri Lanka and South Africa) and added that the decision had nothing to do with any personal equation between Sourav and others.

Describing Sourav’s knock of 34 as “satisfactory,” Pawar refused to agree that the former captain’s past performances were being ignored: “There are ups and downs in everyone’s life. Even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar faced such situations.”

More had a word of comfort for Sourav. “It’s not the end of the road for Sourav, he has every chance of making it to the squad for the (home) series against England,” More said on the sidelines of the Ranji Trophy final.

More said there would be some ‘surprises’ in the squad for the series against Michael Vaughan’s men.

“The idea is to give chances to the best in business and build up a strong combination for the 2007 World Cup,” More explained, adding that the bench strength has to be consolidated.

“But all the experienced players, including Sourav, are open for selection any time,” More maintained.