Bengal Tiger Roaring. Review on Saurav Ganguly

This review is not strictly on Ganguly and his cricketing ability. It is more on his captaincy as it is the hot issue now with Steve Waugh admitting that Ganguly is the best captain that has ever led India.

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Captaincy in Indian cricket is one of the most difficult offices to hold. As long as things are on a roll, the Indian captain enjoys confidence, but once the team starts losing, his head is the first one on the chopping block. The Indian skipper has the responsibility of producing a win everytime India plays. Those are the expectations that the Indian skipper has to contend with.

Why is it that our cricket captains are applauded only after they find acceptance abroad? Sourav Ganguly — a captain with idea and attitude — has been often accused of being undisciplined and outspoken by former national cricketers in the past.

However, with Australian captain Steve Waugh – universally considered to be one of the greatest captains in world cricket today - praising Ganguly as one of the best Indian captains, the criticism has suddenly given way to applause.

What makes Waugh’s comments more interesting is the fact that there was no love lost between the Australian skipper and Ganguly, following their well-publicised altercations during the India-Australia series in 2001. In that series, Ganguly in some matches had kept his counterpart waiting for the toss. Sledging – a tactic not used by Indian players – was also introduced to the discomfort of the Australians. Under Ganguly’s aggressive captaincy even the likes of Dravid and Sachin elected to retort back to the Aussies bowlers swearing down the wicket. The Aussies found a taste of their own medicine difficult to digest and the Australian press promptly labelled Ganguly as ‘the bad boy of Indian cricket’.

In all means, an aggressive captain like Sourav Ganguly has been a boon for Indian cricket which has been for too long led by non-aggressive captains, be it Azharudhin, Sachin or the rest with the possible exception may be of Kapil ‘paaji’ (but then he was also too ‘gentlemanly’). Ganguly has 'surprised' all his critics and also maybe himself by leading India to overseas victories of late.

Ganguly’s critics may be quick to point out that Ganguly may have been suspended for a match for excessive appealing. But the question to ask here is why have captains of foreign teams or even individual players been allowed to get away with blue-murders in the past? If English match referee Mike Denness could haul up Ganguly in the South Africa series for failing to control his players, how could Steve Waugh get away with players Ponting and Slater literally showing fists to the opposition?

Ganguly first captained the Indian side in the Coca-Cola Cup against the West Indies in Singapore. This was because Sachin rested himself because of a sore back. Subsequently, in the DMC Cup in Toronto, Ganguly led India to a 2-1 victory. However, it was not until the end of the season that Ganguly became captain in his own right, leading India to a 3-2 ODI series win over South Africa.

Ganguly seems to have all the requisites for a good captain. He is both a bowler and a batsman and as such can anticipate the thought processes of both batsmen and bowlers. Apart from a lean patch after the home series against Australia, Ganguly has led by example by scoring runs and taking vital wickets.

Ganguly's claim to fame includes feats like being the third batsman (after Australia's Harry Graham and England's John Hampshire) to score a century on his Test debut at Lord's. His knock of 131 remains the highest score by any batsman on his Test debut at Lord's. Ganguly's 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999 was the highest individual score by an Indian in ODIs until Tendulkar surpassed it, but it is still the highest score by an Indian in the World Cup. In the second Test against Australia at Kolkata in March 2001, Ganguly became the third captain in history, after AE Stoddart and Mike Brearley to lead a team to victory after following on.

Unlike other captains in the past, Ganguly has had the confidence in deciding the final combination for the team in spite of eliciting criticism for the selections. From getting Dravid to keep wickets to making Sachin bat at No.4, he has mostly had his way with selections. And on the rare occassions that he did not have his way, he has made his displeasure very clear and that includes at the press conference and in the cricketing field as well.

He also believes in backing his team to the hilt, a must for forging initiative amongst team members. Referred to as 'Dada', Ganguly has infused a fighting spirit amongst the Indian team and he is perhaps the best person around to pump up youngsters like Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag and Mongia.

A gutsy player, Ganguly leads by example. Who can forget his pull of Glenn McGrath, in his first over of the second ball on a perfectly pitched delivery right on the middle stump, during the last one-dayer in the Australian tour to India or his sixers above cover point of South African counterpart Shaun Pollock in the ODI series in South Africa.

The tour to England has not been good for the Indian captain personally so far. Ganguly has had a quiet series with the bat and the ball, but he has been a strong presence in the field. He has been less melodramatic, more demanding of players, also more understanding. No moaning, no cribbing, but aggressive and ruthless in the middle.

The Indians have had a bad record in ODI finals (not to mention Test matches) with nine defeats in a row dating back to 1998-99. Since India's last tournament victory in Sharjah in 1998-99, they have reached nine tournament finals, and come out from each empty-handed. They have now taken on the mantle of chokers in finals and crucial matches which adorned the South African stables till now. Can India break this jinx? Can Ganguly and his lions do what Kapil and his devils did at Lords almost 20 years ago. With hours left to go to the final, I leave it to you all for debate.

And more importantly will this good run continue till February 2003 World Cup in South Africa? Only time has the answer to this question.