I like Ganguly as a captain. He has always backed his players and formed this team. In fact, he has, over time, earned the respect of his teammates. Especially the youngsters.
But he does play favorites. Well known examples are, he loves Nehra and Bhajji. And he does not like Agarkar and Powar.
Granted that Powar is not a certain inclusion, he was still dropped from the side after decent performances in Pakistan.
But dropping Agarkar is even more shocking. Is Nehra a better bowler than Agarkar? Who knows? Both are on-and-off bowlers and both need their ‘days’ to shine. On their off days, both are quite pedestrian. So what made Gangs choose Nehra?
Because Nehra probably brings him his morning tea with biscuits and newspapers. And Bhajji probably irons his clothes for him before he goes into the shower.
This attitude just sucks.
Romit's Stream 
I think your last statement is totally unfair.Ganguly knows Agarkar and Nehra better than you and me. Maybe one is a better team player than the other. ..maybe hs has some bowling plan where Nehra fits in better….maybe he just feels nehra is more talented and Ganguly seems to be a far better judge than you and me.He is also willing to put the interests of the team above his. He did not think twice before relinquishing the opening slot to accommodate Sehwag and Tendulkar. In the series against Australia Down Under, he moved himself up the order and came out to bat above Sachin so that the master, who was under pressure with the runs having dried up, did not have to go through a testing period at the fag end of a dayTo accuse such a man of personal favouritsm is uncalled for. When you say he doens’t like agarkar and powar…he probably doesn’t belive in their potential as much as he belives in bhajji’s and Nehra’s . Its his opinion of them as players not any personal vendetta against the others. In a situation where you have abundance of talent one cannot take everyone you go by your own judgement…and just becuase his choice is not the same as yours to accuse of such pettiness is uncalled for.Isn’t Ajit a sort of friend of yours? Isn’t Ajit from your city?…hmmmm…i see where your preference for him comes from….
I am going by facts. Why was Powar dropped from the XI in Pakistan? Why was Ajit dropped from the squad? Ajit came back from injury and he got one match, I believe. He was average in that match, but he was dismissed. Nehra came back from injury and was pathetic in his first match, but he was persisted with. Why? Same goes with Bhajji. He was not effective at all before he was almost forced out of the team and forced into his surgery in Australia. Why was he persisted with? Just because of one series-winning performance? I am not going by city preferences, though I must say I follow Bombay cricket more than I follow cricket from the other parts of the country. And having said that, none of the current players have played state cricket for while, since it was the offseason. So there is not much to compare there. Whaddya say?
I must say that I agree with the first comment by anonymous! Its a 14 member squad and with the form that some of our guys have shown in recent times, its always going to be difficult to leave someone out. I mean, other than these two selections, the other 12 people selected are nearly unanimous choices. That is something amazing, you know. Then, when you see these two choices, it is not rank nepotism. There will be as many justifications for Nehra as there are for Agarkar, and likewise, one would say about Bhajji and Powar. Perhaps the latter is an even stronger case, since Bhajji has sort of proven himself, in a longer run, as compared to Powar. Indeed, I would believe that Ganguly fights for his team members, perhaps insists on getting someone he likes. But its that show of confidence from the captain that prompts the player to give more than his 100%. And that 100% is on the field for us to see.. I am not sure what happens in the dressing room. But I can see that in a crunch situation when Ganguly tosses the ball for the 50th over to Nehra, he jolly well tries his hardest to justify his captain’s faith in him. I would give the benefit of doubt to Saurav.. !