As he prepares to lead the Indian team on the tour of England,Sourav Chandidas Ganguly may not, like Ajit Wadekar in the early70s or Sunil Gavaskar in the early 80s, be the undisputed monarchof Indian cricket
Partab Ramchand14-Jun-2002As he prepares to lead the Indian team on the tour of England,Sourav Chandidas Ganguly may not, like Ajit Wadekar in the early70s or Sunil Gavaskar in the early 80s, be the undisputed monarchof Indian cricket. But he is close to it and a good showing inEngland could well elevate the Prince of Kolkata and make him theKing of Indian cricket.
Ganguly is the most assertive leader sinceGavaskar. He is emotional and gets really charged up wheneverneeded – and sometimes when it is not required! He isaggressive on and off the field and perhaps this is a qualitythat needs to be tempered. He is not perfect – nobody is forthat matter – but his leadership is very much in keeping withthe times.
It is a little over two years since Ganguly was given the job inrather dramatic circumstances. But in this short time, he hasexperienced the ups and downs, the triumphs and disasters, theaccolades and the abuses. He has taken all this in his strideeven as he has seen his batting average fall and his personallife come under the microscope.There can be little doubt that the elevation of Ganguly to thecaptaincy has been a key element of Indian cricket in the newmillennium. Let’s get one thing straight. This man is different.He does not fit the usual prototype of the Indian cricketcaptain. He is neither a softie, nor a pliable leader.Ganguly is the most assertive leader since Gavaskar. He isemotional and gets really charged up whenever needed – andsometimes when it is not required! He is aggressive on and offthe field and perhaps this is a quality that needs to betempered. He is not perfect – nobody is for that matter – buthis leadership is very much in keeping with the times.I am convinced that without him at the helm, the epic seriestriumph over Australia last year would not have come about,despite all the heroics of Laxman, Dravid and Harbhajan. Sure, hecan still improve, tactically and temperamentally. For the timebeing though, it is important that the administrators, selectors,media and the public give him enough opportunities to become whatI strongly believe he will become – one of the outstandingcaptains 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 theastonishingly 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 inauguralTest against Bangladesh, noted cricket writer Rajan Bala nudgedme and asked, “Well, did you ever think that one day you wouldsee Ganguly captain India in a Test match?” He gave a wry smileas he asked this, for he knew what my answer would be. Almosttill the point when he was appointed captain, there was never anycertainty that he would get to occupy the most prestigious postin Indian sport.In the midand late-90s, as Ganguly was establishing his placein the side, the leadership changed hands between Azharuddin andTendulkar, while Ajay Jadeja took over the deputy’s post fromAnil Kumble. Ganguly, meanwhile, was never considered for the toppost.Even Dravid was mentioned as a suitable candidate, his battingstyle and his studious approach to the game giving the impressionthat he was the cerebral type. Ganguly, on the other hand, wasconsidered flashy, a quality not always associated withleadership, and even then glimpses of over emotion were inevidence.But once he got the job, Ganguly took little time in showing thathe was not one to respect reputations and names. Under hisleadership, the players have shed their nice guy image,especially against teams like Australia and South Africa who askfor no quarter and give none. The Indians now give as good asthey get.There is a mature aggression about their batting and bowling,symbolised by the deeds of youngsters like Yuvraj Singh, VirenderSehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and TinuYohannan. And epitomising this attitude has been the skipper.Ganguly is certainly no softie like Tendulkar or pliable asAzhar. He is the veritable Bengal tiger who is unafraid of makinghis roar heard loud and clear.He has repeatedly made his intentions clear. “Don’t try and putone over me. Don’t mess with me. You’ll be sorry,” is the gistof the message. This is something new for an Indian leader. Forlong, the image of the Indian captain had been that of theobliging, only too willing to please type. Ganguly has succeededin changing this prototype.Ever since he took over the captaincy, a few things have becomeobvious about Ganguly’s approach to the job. For one thing, hehas been a vast improvement over his two immediate predecessorsin communication skills.While Azharuddin was a disaster in this field, Tendulkar, thoughmore straightforward, made it clear that he was not altogethercomfortable in the area of media relations. Ganguly has been arefreshing change. He is easily accessible, does not answer inmonosyllables and is transparent in his dealings with the media.There is also no denying that Ganguly has been a better captainin other ways too than his two immediate predecessors. He hasscored a point or two in matters of strategy and tactics. He hashad the team behind him and is inclined to back his players tothe hilt.At the same time, he has also displayed the willingness to crackthe whip if needed. Only recently he showed his displeasureagainst 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 firstto rush to the fast bowler, senior to him in age and experienceand give him a warm hug. All this has become Ganguly’s trademark.Yes, there have been occasions when Ganguly has overstepped thelimits of aggression on the field. There is no excuse for Gangulyto get theatrical about appeals, umpires’ decisions or his ownplayers’ performance. Aggression that cannot be tempered isuncalled for, especially by a captain in these troubled timeswhen there is so much petulant behaviour. To Ganguly’s credit,however, it must be said that he is mellowing and the number ofincidents involving his fiery temper have come down indeed ahappy augury for the future.In my book, Ganguly deserves a lot of credit for his no-nonsensecaptaincy. For this, if he has made himself unpopular with asection of cricket followers, players and the media, so be it.His approach came through best in the great triumph overAustralia last year.For once, the Australians, who through the years had become pastmasters in the art of aggression, bustling tactics and sledging,found that they were getting it as good as they gave. They wereat the receiving end in this tactical game and didn’t like it.Ganguly relentlessly turned on the screws, took on Steve Waugh offthe field in a war of words and the Australians, under pressurebuckled, despite all the big names at their command. `Force willbe met with force,’ could well have been the Indian captain’smotto.But after the end of the tour, even Waugh while admitting that hewas no friend of his testy Indian counterpart, gave him grudgingpraise. “I can’t say I got on that well with him, I’d be lying ifI said that,” the Australian captain said before admitting thatGanguly was probably the best man to lead India.”They’ve won a series against Australia which is a greatperformance,” he said. “I give him credit, he’s very competitiveand knows what he wants.”Nobody’s perfect, as we all know – or at least should know. Andyet a captain who led the country to what was without argumentits greatest ever Test series victory at home was being vilifiedjust a few months later! For the life of me, I just cannot fathomthis kind of fickleness.The man has guts, plays the game aggressively, is almost a bornleader and there was talk of replacing him a little over a yearafter he stepped into the hot seat. Serious enough for a formerpresident of the Board of Control for Cricket in India to beratehim in front of junior players, tell him that it is time he wentand ask Dravid to be prepared to lead the team. Raj SinghDungarpur on this occasion was clearly being overdramatic. Asfar as I am concerned, there should never have been any debate onthe issue.But being over emotional is part of the Indian cricketing psyche.One triumph and the captain is lifted to the levels of a demigod. One defeat and he is brought down to earth with a sickeningthud. Putting things in proper perspective has hardly been afeature of anything associated with Indian cricket.As he leaves for England, Ganguly’s overall record is prettyimpressive. Under his captaincy, India has played 23 Tests, wonten, lost seven and drawn six. His tally of wins is next only toMd Azharuddin who had 14 victories in the 47 Tests in which heled India. More significantly, four of Ganguly’s wins have beennotched 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 takingon the establishment when it comes to cricketing matters, and onewhose 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 driftwhen things are not going well. He has to learn to curb histemper and keep in mind the thin line between aggression andpetulance. He should not let the pressures of captaincy affecthis classy batsmanship.Potentially, Ganguly, 30 next month, has it in him to become oneof the most successful Indian captains of all time. It took himfour 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 himbe.