I adore The Prince of Kolkata…
One of the things I missed badly during my hostel days was the monopoly over the TV Remote Control. While I was used to watching 24*7 news channels at home, I found it hard to convince my fellow hostellers to log on to news channels. Somehow they always found KTV and SUN TV more interesting. Occasionally guys would be watching EPL or NBA at odd hours. But the only times the entire hostel was at the TV room was during Cricket matches, more so when India was playing. Nearly hundred of us would be congested in a 10*15 Sq. Ft. room.
After every match we would argue as to who was the best player on show and likewise. And almost invariably the issue would burn down to “Ganguly Vs Tendulkar”. I was the leader of the Ganguly faction while Mani (my next roomie) was the most vociferous supporter of Tendulkar. As is the case always, I found very few of them endorsing my views. Vivek, Kalyan and a few others would back Ganguly’s cause while lots of them would support Mani (not because they love Tendulkar but coz they hate Ganguly). Always Mani would hold sway during the arguments mainly due to his high decibel levels.
It was December 2004 and Ganguly was again being targeted because India had just lost the Home series against Australia. India winning the last Test at Mumbai in a ‘dustbowl’ of a pitch under Dravid’s captaincy didn’t help our cause either. Those of us supporting Ganguly always ended up being at the receiving end. So I thoguht ENOUGH is ENOUGH and decided to write an article on Ganguly’s Achievements and mailed it to our class group to settle the issue once for all. Just thought I would post those ‘year and a half old’ views of mine on this blog –
Written in December 2004:
While speculation is rife that Ganguly’s dismissal from captaincy is only a matter of time, he has gone from strength to strength as India's skipper, though it has been tough going for him in the last six months... Many feel that he is still in the team just because he is the captain... Everybody knows Ganguly is no Mike Brearly... And statistics have always been Ganguly's friend whenever somebody criticizes him and truly so... Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar with a ODI batting average of around 44 is Contemporary India's Best batsman... Agreed... But to tell that Ganguly is a misfit in this Indian line-up is an obscure comment... Again lets rely on Ganguly's trusted aide... His statistics... He has the second best average of about 42 in ODI cricket for an Indian... What if many of his centuries came against lowly ranked Kenya, Zimbabwe or Namibia. After all, somebody or the other has to score against these countries also to help India win. Nobody would dare to undermine his effort against Kenya in the World Cup where he helped his team come out of the woods when they were reeling at a paltry score with already three batsmen (including Tendulkar!) in the pavilion.
Always Ganguly and Controversies go hand in hand and the Prince of Kolkata himself doesn't deny this. He had a rather unsuccessful debut in the World Series in 1991-92 in Australia. He was immediately dropped from the team after that and wasn't in the team picked for the Benson and Hedges World Cup Down Under that followed. The reason--this youngster who was 19 then, didn't have the right attitude according to the report given by the manager on that tour. Guess who the manager was--the present BCCI President Mr.Ranbir Singh Mahendra. Life comes a full circle says an old maxim. And it definitely does!!!
Being in the dark for the better part of the next four years, many believed Sourav Ganguly would join the list of players who played a single ODI for India. But destiny had something else in store for this chap who had learnt life the hard way .He never had the natural talent that Sachin Tendulkar had. But he always worked meticulously for that India Cap that he wore last in 1991.As anybody would say, fortune had a big part to play in shaping Ganguly's career. When he was chosen in the Indian Test Squad that was to play in England in the summer of 1996,the cricketing fraternity in India was shocked. This was a blatant decision by the selection committee because everybody knew he was in the team only because of the quota system in place and not because of his cricketing heroics. But all this was forgotten in a hurry when he started his career all-over again in the most spectacular fashion ever possible. A century on debut is reason enough to be happy, but Ganguly would go beyond that. He continued his form into his second test and smacked another ton. Finally, the Prince of Kolkata had arrived.
Ganguly started his ODI career as a middle order batsman but in due course, he would form the most attacking opening combination in ODI history with Tendulkar. He was always in Sachin's shadow and his efforts often went unrecognized. The world started taking note of him after his wonderful 124 against Pakistan at Dacca that was instrumental in shaping India's trophy triumph. In the same year, he and Sachin would raise a 251 run record opening partnership in Sri Lanka that setup India's series win.1998 culminated with another thumping 10 wicket win in Sharjah over Zimbabwe that was setup by the same duo. Also his record breaking 183,against an attack that had Murali and Vaas in its fold, at Taunton still remains fresh in memory. Now comes the big question-Sachin or Sourav? Both are great cricketers in their own right but Tendulkar is unmistakably the better of the two players by a long way. But this doesn't diminish Ganguly's stature by any means.
There can never be comparisons between Ganguly and Tendulkar - the man Bradman called his modern day re-incarnation. But on any given day, Ganguly the Captain will score more marks than Sachin the Captain. Its just the irony of the game that great cricketers don't necessarily make good captains or coaches and vice-versa. The reasons are there for everybody to see. Some say Sachin wasn't blessed with the talented bunch of players that Ganguly has now. Others say Tendulkar led the team on difficult tours of South Africa, Australia and West Indies. But there will be no sympathy for someone who's team makes it a habit of scoring double digit totals in South Africa and capitulates when chasing 120 in Barbados.
True, Ganguly has a wonderfully talented, atheletic, and a very young team steaming with exuberance. But all credit goes to Ganguly for having built this team. He has always been an uncompromising advocate of youth and the manner in which he has backed Yuvraj, Kaif , Harbhajan and Pathan is adorable .But on the flip side, there is an opinion that he has stuck his neck out demanding the inclusion of his favorite players only and has been lukewarm towards other youngsters. I, myself, though being one of Ganguly's staunchest supporters would agree to that opinion. After all to err is human, they say. The marginalisation of Anil Kumble before last year's Australia tour, sidelining of left arm spinners, backing up Parthiv Patel a bit too far, unsettling Aakash Chopra who had settled nicely into the mould of things, unnerving Dinesh Kaarthick even before he stepped into the dressing room are some unsavoury actions of Sourav that don’t find approval from anybody, including the selectors.
But this has been the essence of his captaincy. He is an assertive, no nonsense captain unlike Tendulkar and Azharuddin, who seemed to be submissive, at least in front of anyone who had BCCI writ all over him. Ganguly's assertiveness has also proved to be his undoing. His assertiveness transforms into aggression on the field that has sometimes landed him in trouble with the match referees. He isn't proud that he is the most booked cricketer by the ICC, but agrees that his passion for the country overtakes his emotions during such circumstances. Who would forget that memorable July day in Lords during the summer of 2002 when Ganguly bared his top swinging his shirt from the balcony a la Flintoff, when Kaif and Yuvraj helped India achieve the impossible. Some say Ganguly chewing a gum, hurt national sentiments, when the National Anthem was played during the World Cup Final in 2003.But, ask him and he would say that all that was in his mind when the National Anthem was played was to make India's flag fly high after that final, which unfortunately wasn't to be. His commitment to the team's cause was also evident in Australia where the fairy tale tour gained momentum in Brisbane, thanks to the Captain's masterly 144.The manner in which he safe-guarded the out of form Tendulkar by coming in at number four in order to allow Sachin more time to settle down on that tour just goes to show how much of a team man he is.
Ganguly definitely ranks up with the best skippers of the world... Here is a look at some of his achievements in the Indian perspective...
1.The most successful Indian Captain both at home and abroad.
2.The FIRST Indian Captain to register Test wins against all the Test Playing nations except New Zealand.
3.Second only to Kapil Dev, to lead the team to a world cup final.
4.The FIRST Indian Captain to lead the team to victory over Pakistan in Pakistan.
5.The FIRST Indian Captain and only the Second in Test History to lead his team to victory after following-on.
Enough indications that Ganguly belongs to an elite club of Captains. Kapil Dev, when asked what he felt was the most difficult job on earth,said, "To captain the Indian cricket team is by far the greatest burden for anybody and more so,because he shoulders the hopes of a billion people". That Ganguly has done this with admirable ease only goes to show that his cricketing acumen has been of the highest class.
One thing is clear. We are really fortunate to be witness to an era that has seen some of the best captaincy by Sourav Ganguly. So instead of being critical of Ganguly for the home series loss against Australia, which was a rare blemish, lets rally behind him so that he leads the Men in Blue to more laurels in the times to come.
June 2006:
Thanks to the indifferent selection policies of the Indian Selectors and the ego-clash between Greg Chappell and Ganguly, he finds himself in the cold. Even after all the nightmares that Ganguly has had to endure in this last one year, I still believe that Ganguly has it in him to make a comeback into the Indian Squad. The county stint that he is scheduled to have this summer should hopefully provide him with the launching pad to stage his comeback.
Some of my friends call this as the “Height of Optimism”. Only TIME will tell if they are Right.
After every match we would argue as to who was the best player on show and likewise. And almost invariably the issue would burn down to “Ganguly Vs Tendulkar”. I was the leader of the Ganguly faction while Mani (my next roomie) was the most vociferous supporter of Tendulkar. As is the case always, I found very few of them endorsing my views. Vivek, Kalyan and a few others would back Ganguly’s cause while lots of them would support Mani (not because they love Tendulkar but coz they hate Ganguly). Always Mani would hold sway during the arguments mainly due to his high decibel levels.
It was December 2004 and Ganguly was again being targeted because India had just lost the Home series against Australia. India winning the last Test at Mumbai in a ‘dustbowl’ of a pitch under Dravid’s captaincy didn’t help our cause either. Those of us supporting Ganguly always ended up being at the receiving end. So I thoguht ENOUGH is ENOUGH and decided to write an article on Ganguly’s Achievements and mailed it to our class group to settle the issue once for all. Just thought I would post those ‘year and a half old’ views of mine on this blog –
Written in December 2004:
While speculation is rife that Ganguly’s dismissal from captaincy is only a matter of time, he has gone from strength to strength as India's skipper, though it has been tough going for him in the last six months... Many feel that he is still in the team just because he is the captain... Everybody knows Ganguly is no Mike Brearly... And statistics have always been Ganguly's friend whenever somebody criticizes him and truly so... Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar with a ODI batting average of around 44 is Contemporary India's Best batsman... Agreed... But to tell that Ganguly is a misfit in this Indian line-up is an obscure comment... Again lets rely on Ganguly's trusted aide... His statistics... He has the second best average of about 42 in ODI cricket for an Indian... What if many of his centuries came against lowly ranked Kenya, Zimbabwe or Namibia. After all, somebody or the other has to score against these countries also to help India win. Nobody would dare to undermine his effort against Kenya in the World Cup where he helped his team come out of the woods when they were reeling at a paltry score with already three batsmen (including Tendulkar!) in the pavilion.
Always Ganguly and Controversies go hand in hand and the Prince of Kolkata himself doesn't deny this. He had a rather unsuccessful debut in the World Series in 1991-92 in Australia. He was immediately dropped from the team after that and wasn't in the team picked for the Benson and Hedges World Cup Down Under that followed. The reason--this youngster who was 19 then, didn't have the right attitude according to the report given by the manager on that tour. Guess who the manager was--the present BCCI President Mr.Ranbir Singh Mahendra. Life comes a full circle says an old maxim. And it definitely does!!!
Being in the dark for the better part of the next four years, many believed Sourav Ganguly would join the list of players who played a single ODI for India. But destiny had something else in store for this chap who had learnt life the hard way .He never had the natural talent that Sachin Tendulkar had. But he always worked meticulously for that India Cap that he wore last in 1991.As anybody would say, fortune had a big part to play in shaping Ganguly's career. When he was chosen in the Indian Test Squad that was to play in England in the summer of 1996,the cricketing fraternity in India was shocked. This was a blatant decision by the selection committee because everybody knew he was in the team only because of the quota system in place and not because of his cricketing heroics. But all this was forgotten in a hurry when he started his career all-over again in the most spectacular fashion ever possible. A century on debut is reason enough to be happy, but Ganguly would go beyond that. He continued his form into his second test and smacked another ton. Finally, the Prince of Kolkata had arrived.
Ganguly started his ODI career as a middle order batsman but in due course, he would form the most attacking opening combination in ODI history with Tendulkar. He was always in Sachin's shadow and his efforts often went unrecognized. The world started taking note of him after his wonderful 124 against Pakistan at Dacca that was instrumental in shaping India's trophy triumph. In the same year, he and Sachin would raise a 251 run record opening partnership in Sri Lanka that setup India's series win.1998 culminated with another thumping 10 wicket win in Sharjah over Zimbabwe that was setup by the same duo. Also his record breaking 183,against an attack that had Murali and Vaas in its fold, at Taunton still remains fresh in memory. Now comes the big question-Sachin or Sourav? Both are great cricketers in their own right but Tendulkar is unmistakably the better of the two players by a long way. But this doesn't diminish Ganguly's stature by any means.
There can never be comparisons between Ganguly and Tendulkar - the man Bradman called his modern day re-incarnation. But on any given day, Ganguly the Captain will score more marks than Sachin the Captain. Its just the irony of the game that great cricketers don't necessarily make good captains or coaches and vice-versa. The reasons are there for everybody to see. Some say Sachin wasn't blessed with the talented bunch of players that Ganguly has now. Others say Tendulkar led the team on difficult tours of South Africa, Australia and West Indies. But there will be no sympathy for someone who's team makes it a habit of scoring double digit totals in South Africa and capitulates when chasing 120 in Barbados.
True, Ganguly has a wonderfully talented, atheletic, and a very young team steaming with exuberance. But all credit goes to Ganguly for having built this team. He has always been an uncompromising advocate of youth and the manner in which he has backed Yuvraj, Kaif , Harbhajan and Pathan is adorable .But on the flip side, there is an opinion that he has stuck his neck out demanding the inclusion of his favorite players only and has been lukewarm towards other youngsters. I, myself, though being one of Ganguly's staunchest supporters would agree to that opinion. After all to err is human, they say. The marginalisation of Anil Kumble before last year's Australia tour, sidelining of left arm spinners, backing up Parthiv Patel a bit too far, unsettling Aakash Chopra who had settled nicely into the mould of things, unnerving Dinesh Kaarthick even before he stepped into the dressing room are some unsavoury actions of Sourav that don’t find approval from anybody, including the selectors.
But this has been the essence of his captaincy. He is an assertive, no nonsense captain unlike Tendulkar and Azharuddin, who seemed to be submissive, at least in front of anyone who had BCCI writ all over him. Ganguly's assertiveness has also proved to be his undoing. His assertiveness transforms into aggression on the field that has sometimes landed him in trouble with the match referees. He isn't proud that he is the most booked cricketer by the ICC, but agrees that his passion for the country overtakes his emotions during such circumstances. Who would forget that memorable July day in Lords during the summer of 2002 when Ganguly bared his top swinging his shirt from the balcony a la Flintoff, when Kaif and Yuvraj helped India achieve the impossible. Some say Ganguly chewing a gum, hurt national sentiments, when the National Anthem was played during the World Cup Final in 2003.But, ask him and he would say that all that was in his mind when the National Anthem was played was to make India's flag fly high after that final, which unfortunately wasn't to be. His commitment to the team's cause was also evident in Australia where the fairy tale tour gained momentum in Brisbane, thanks to the Captain's masterly 144.The manner in which he safe-guarded the out of form Tendulkar by coming in at number four in order to allow Sachin more time to settle down on that tour just goes to show how much of a team man he is.
Ganguly definitely ranks up with the best skippers of the world... Here is a look at some of his achievements in the Indian perspective...
1.The most successful Indian Captain both at home and abroad.
2.The FIRST Indian Captain to register Test wins against all the Test Playing nations except New Zealand.
3.Second only to Kapil Dev, to lead the team to a world cup final.
4.The FIRST Indian Captain to lead the team to victory over Pakistan in Pakistan.
5.The FIRST Indian Captain and only the Second in Test History to lead his team to victory after following-on.
Enough indications that Ganguly belongs to an elite club of Captains. Kapil Dev, when asked what he felt was the most difficult job on earth,said, "To captain the Indian cricket team is by far the greatest burden for anybody and more so,because he shoulders the hopes of a billion people". That Ganguly has done this with admirable ease only goes to show that his cricketing acumen has been of the highest class.
One thing is clear. We are really fortunate to be witness to an era that has seen some of the best captaincy by Sourav Ganguly. So instead of being critical of Ganguly for the home series loss against Australia, which was a rare blemish, lets rally behind him so that he leads the Men in Blue to more laurels in the times to come.
June 2006:
Thanks to the indifferent selection policies of the Indian Selectors and the ego-clash between Greg Chappell and Ganguly, he finds himself in the cold. Even after all the nightmares that Ganguly has had to endure in this last one year, I still believe that Ganguly has it in him to make a comeback into the Indian Squad. The county stint that he is scheduled to have this summer should hopefully provide him with the launching pad to stage his comeback.
Some of my friends call this as the “Height of Optimism”. Only TIME will tell if they are Right.
posted by VAC | 1:04 AM
7 Comments:
Too much has been said already, don't you think? In the end, it boils down to perspective.
What Ganguly fans cannot answer is why an underperforming player should block a youngster's chance to blossom in international cricket. Lately, the same can be asked of Tendulkar too.
I knew it wouldn't be long before u posted something like this...u got to realise the fact that ganguly is history and dalmiya is no more president of BCCI atleast till 2007... But i admire ur quality of sticking to ur stands where most jump tables when required...Having said that, please dont compare ganguly with sachin just because he scored 10,000 odi runs... Many still think i support sachin for the record he has... It is his COMMITMENT that makes me love him more than anyone else...Sachin left captaincy without any fuss...Ganguly never did that and wanted to hold on to it more dearly than anything else... Had he followed sachin's footsteps, he wouldn't be playing for Northamptonshire now...
boy, i'll never forget us taunting mani with the carrot of ganguly... those were the days!!! whatever any idiot might say, he was and will be india's best skipper........ dada ki jai!!!
hmmm... anyway we have had a lot of arguments in the hostel on this topic. But i completely disagree with vac on the issue of dada rejoinin the indian team. thers no way that will happen as long as chappell is ther at the helm.... by the time greg leaves dada will be 2 old...
For those who feel tendulkar is exhausted and empty, I am sure WC 2007 will shut their mouths...I am not angry against people who criticize sachin...But,i would really be mad when such people change stances(like "I knew it was just a question of time") when sachin proves what he really is... For those who feel that youth have the mettle to replace someone like tendulkar, I think tour of WI was a knock in their heads...Classic example is SK Raina who seemed invincible in subcontinent and looks like a tailender abroad...He's young though and might go on to be a good player in time...But to brand him as 'next tendulkar' was a blunder ...
People criticized tendulkar even before WC 2003 when he was down, though not as loud...He amassed 667 runs in that tournament(Only player to cross 500 runs in a WC not once but twice to date) and to me singlehandedly took India to finals where a loss was inevitable after dismal show by indian bowlers...Some feel ganguly's captaincy had a part in it...But for tendulkar, India wouldn't have crossed group stages no matter what strategies ganguly had up his sleeves(The one like deciding to field on a batting paradise in a WC final)...
WC's have always brought the best out of Tendulkar and 2007 is going to be no different... For a man who has shed captaincy (unlike others) when he was in his prime form, retirement is not a big deal... The fact that he's still around only means that he can still deliver when it matters... In time everyone will realise this...
Untill then try to understand the fact and dont just say what the media say
Ganguly got chucked off because the bowlers got the better of him. Sachin's decline,(temporary of course) is because his injuries have got the better of him...
for god's sake, someone tell mani that he is supposed to comment. if he wants to write anything like the above, let him create a blogspace of his own and spare us.
ganguly wil be very happy if he reads this post.....
thinking about it, there is a pretty good chance that he might actually read this... i hear he is not so awfully busy right now. who knows, he might be searchin for thayirs and sadhams in the blogger to kill time and might even bump into this...;)
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