As he prepares to lead the Indian team on the tour of England,
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly may not, like Ajit Wadekar in the early
70s or Sunil Gavaskar in the early 80s, be the undisputed monarch
of Indian cricket. But he is close to it and a good showing in
England could well elevate the Prince of Kolkata and make him the
King of Indian cricket.
Ganguly is the most assertive leader since
Gavaskar. He is emotional and gets really charged up whenever
needed - and sometimes when it is not required! He is
aggressive on and off the field and perhaps this is a quality
that needs to be tempered. He is not perfect - nobody is for
that matter - but his leadership is very much in keeping with
the times.
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It is a little over two years since Ganguly was given the job in
rather dramatic circumstances. But in this short time, he has
experienced the ups and downs, the triumphs and disasters, the
accolades and the abuses. He has taken all this in his stride
even as he has seen his batting average fall and his personal
life come under the microscope.
There can be little doubt that the elevation of Ganguly to the
captaincy has been a key element of Indian cricket in the new
millennium. Let's get one thing straight. This man is different.
He does not fit the usual prototype of the Indian cricket
captain. He is neither a softie, nor a pliable leader.
Ganguly is the most assertive leader since Gavaskar. He is
emotional and gets really charged up whenever needed - and
sometimes when it is not required! He is aggressive on and off
the field and perhaps this is a quality that needs to be
tempered. He is not perfect - nobody is for that matter - but
his leadership is very much in keeping with the times.
I am convinced that without him at the helm, the epic series
triumph over Australia last year would not have come about,
despite all the heroics of Laxman, Dravid and Harbhajan. Sure, he
can still improve, tactically and temperamentally. For the time
being though, it is important that the administrators, selectors,
media and the public give him enough opportunities to become what
I strongly believe he will become - one of the outstanding
captains in Indian cricket.
He is now firmly in the saddle, but viewed from any angle,
Ganguly's elevation to the Indian captaincy must be one of the
astonishingly unexpected success stories in Indian cricket.
Indeed, my mind goes back at this time to Dhaka in November,
2000.
Watching Ganguly talking to reporters on the eve of the inaugural
Test against Bangladesh, noted cricket writer Rajan Bala nudged
me and asked, "Well, did you ever think that one day you would
see Ganguly captain India in a Test match?" He gave a wry smile
as he asked this, for he knew what my answer would be. Almost
till the point when he was appointed captain, there was never any
certainty that he would get to occupy the most prestigious post
in Indian sport.
In the midand late-90s, as Ganguly was establishing his place
in the side, the leadership changed hands between Azharuddin and
Tendulkar, while Ajay Jadeja took over the deputy's post from
Anil Kumble. Ganguly, meanwhile, was never considered for the top
post.
Even Dravid was mentioned as a suitable candidate, his batting
style and his studious approach to the game giving the impression
that he was the cerebral type. Ganguly, on the other hand, was
considered flashy, a quality not always associated with
leadership, and even then glimpses of over emotion were in
evidence.
But once he got the job, Ganguly took little time in showing that
he was not one to respect reputations and names. Under his
leadership, the players have shed their nice guy image,
especially against teams like Australia and South Africa who ask
for no quarter and give none. The Indians now give as good as
they get.
There is a mature aggression about their batting and bowling,
symbolised by the deeds of youngsters like Yuvraj Singh, Virender
Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Tinu
Yohannan. And epitomising this attitude has been the skipper.
Ganguly is certainly no softie like Tendulkar or pliable as
Azhar. He is the veritable Bengal tiger who is unafraid of making
his roar heard loud and clear.
He has repeatedly made his intentions clear. "Don't try and put
one over me. Don't mess with me. You'll be sorry," is the gist
of the message. This is something new for an Indian leader. For
long, the image of the Indian captain had been that of the
obliging, only too willing to please type. Ganguly has succeeded
in changing this prototype.
Ever since he took over the captaincy, a few things have become
obvious about Ganguly's approach to the job. For one thing, he
has been a vast improvement over his two immediate predecessors
in communication skills.
While Azharuddin was a disaster in this field, Tendulkar, though
more straightforward, made it clear that he was not altogether
comfortable in the area of media relations. Ganguly has been a
refreshing change. He is easily accessible, does not answer in
monosyllables and is transparent in his dealings with the media.
There is also no denying that Ganguly has been a better captain
in other ways too than his two immediate predecessors. He has
scored a point or two in matters of strategy and tactics. He has
had the team behind him and is inclined to back his players to
the hilt.
At the same time, he has also displayed the willingness to crack
the whip if needed. Only recently he showed his displeasure
against Srinath's bowling all too clearly on the field of play.
But at the end of the same Port of Spain Test, he was the first
to rush to the fast bowler, senior to him in age and experience
and give him a warm hug. All this has become Ganguly's trademark.
Yes, there have been occasions when Ganguly has overstepped the
limits of aggression on the field. There is no excuse for Ganguly
to get theatrical about appeals, umpires' decisions or his own
players' performance. Aggression that cannot be tempered is
uncalled for, especially by a captain in these troubled times
when there is so much petulant behaviour. To Ganguly's credit,
however, it must be said that he is mellowing and the number of
incidents involving his fiery temper have come down indeed a
happy augury for the future.
In my book, Ganguly deserves a lot of credit for his no-nonsense
captaincy. For this, if he has made himself unpopular with a
section of cricket followers, players and the media, so be it.
His approach came through best in the great triumph over
Australia last year.
For once, the Australians, who through the years had become past
masters in the art of aggression, bustling tactics and sledging,
found that they were getting it as good as they gave. They were
at the receiving end in this tactical game and didn't like it.
Ganguly relentlessly turned on the screws, took on Steve Waugh off
the field in a war of words and the Australians, under pressure
buckled, despite all the big names at their command. `Force will
be met with force,' could well have been the Indian captain's
motto.
But after the end of the tour, even Waugh while admitting that he
was no friend of his testy Indian counterpart, gave him grudging
praise. "I can't say I got on that well with him, I'd be lying if
I said that," the Australian captain said before admitting that
Ganguly was probably the best man to lead India.
"They've won a series against Australia which is a great
performance," he said. "I give him credit, he's very competitive
and knows what he wants."
Nobody's perfect, as we all know - or at least should know. And
yet a captain who led the country to what was without argument
its greatest ever Test series victory at home was being vilified
just a few months later! For the life of me, I just cannot fathom
this kind of fickleness.
The man has guts, plays the game aggressively, is almost a born
leader and there was talk of replacing him a little over a year
after he stepped into the hot seat. Serious enough for a former
president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India to berate
him in front of junior players, tell him that it is time he went
and ask Dravid to be prepared to lead the team. Raj Singh
Dungarpur on this occasion was clearly being overdramatic. As
far as I am concerned, there should never have been any debate on
the issue.
But being over emotional is part of the Indian cricketing psyche.
One triumph and the captain is lifted to the levels of a demi
god. One defeat and he is brought down to earth with a sickening
thud. Putting things in proper perspective has hardly been a
feature of anything associated with Indian cricket.
As he leaves for England, Ganguly's overall record is pretty
impressive. Under his captaincy, India has played 23 Tests, won
ten, lost seven and drawn six. His tally of wins is next only to
Md Azharuddin who had 14 victories in the 47 Tests in which he
led India. More significantly, four of Ganguly's wins have been
notched up abroad, more than any other Indian leader.
His record as captain in ODIs is better than average. Moreover,
he is a leader who stands by his players, is not afraid of taking
on the establishment when it comes to cricketing matters, and one
whose approach to the job is very much in keeping with the times.
Sure, there are flaws. Nobody's perfect, remember? Tactically,
Ganguly is still learning. He can be moody and lets things drift
when things are not going well. He has to learn to curb his
temper and keep in mind the thin line between aggression and
petulance. He should not let the pressures of captaincy affect
his classy batsmanship.
Potentially, Ganguly, 30 next month, has it in him to become one
of the most successful Indian captains of all time. It took him
four years in the wilderness to unleash his skill as a batsman.
He will not need that much time to unfurl his leadership skills.
Now if only officialdom, the media and the cricket fans let him
be.