A Captain who solved the mystery of "Why" and "How"- Sourav Ganguly

         Speaking about Tendulkar's style is an easy job. You can keep on talking and still you won't bore people. Arguing for Dravid's defense is a tough task. You may never find it easy to win debates. Talk about Laxman and elegance. You can always write a tragic script for a movie in Australia. But, when speaking about "Ganguly", you should be careful. Because, its not just Dada, but his fans are still hot to handle.

        This could well be the most carefully prepared piece in my collection(still amateurish) till now and there is some inspiration behind this. 17 years ago, two young lads from India stood on the "Mecca of Cricket" making their debuts against an English side who had already went up in the series by 1-0. Many people still believe that these guys should have given chance in the first test and it would have resulted in the series ending  in a draw or could have become a day dream come true(winning a series in England), which has turned out to be a nightmare for the captain cool and his co 2 years ago .No time machines invented till now to go back and change things. So, have to day dream for at least one more year.

 Coming back to the series, it was not an occasional debut , a couple of gems were discovered that day, who went on to play the perfect second fiddle where the GOD of cricket occupying the first, and sometimes taking over whenever the pedal was under their feet. It take some character to overcome the hurdles and take the driving seat of a flight in which the engine name is "Sachin Tendulkar". When a person  named as "Sourav Chandidas Ganguly" took over the pilot seat which was tampered by a rod called "Fixing" many questioned....... WHY???????

 It looks easy to judge a team by the way they performs. Watching the last champions trophy is giving us a feel like the "Art of Dominance" is no longer an Australian product in the cricket market these days. But wait... Why would some one like Brian Lara make a comment on his favorite captain on the very same day which gave wonderful memories 17 years ago. A sensation-centered questionnaire from media may have brought it out. But Lara had no doubts in pointing it to Dada ahead of someone like Dhoni. Its easy to understand the fact that no 5-year kid would thank the one who planted and looked after a mango tree before it actually started giving the best fruits. But Ganguly earns it from everywhere where people know what really team work means and how difficult is the process of "Moulding the team".  Even if he is termed as the arrogant boy of 90's who had rejected the rumor of not carrying drinks to his team-mates, he proved wrong at the age of 35. No wonder he brings a lot of charisma to the team with his presence.



 A leader is one who believes in his team and himself. A leader is one who leads from the front. A leader is one who display risks as strategy.... etc... etc.. There will be a lot of captains to get a first class percentage with this list.  But Ganguly achieved outstanding marks to solve the "Why" in a period where aggression is a patent for Australians, in which pace bowling as an art of conquering the opponent with a mystery named Shane Warne who was having a hand which could make even a china bowl hit the off-stump pitching outside leg. Indeed Ganguly had the likes of a God,a Wall and a Kangaroo Hunter.(Arguing for Bhajji would bring in debate but i always felt if there was someone who brought the best out of him, its Dada) But its takes lot more than some quality to reach the ultimate territory. If kolkata was the path to that place then Ganguly guided the so called quality which was moving 360 without knowing the path.

A flat track world-title is not darker in any aspect, but becoming runners-up in testing conditions always gives a sense of achievement even though the aggression was surrendered before the dominant Australia in 2003. The decision to bowl was criticized. But its take a lot of courage to be Ganguly. He went for it, keeping faith in his pace trio. A retired veteran bowler who makes a great come-back(ahem.. ahem..Not Afridi by the way, he does that very often), simply on captain's call was truly unbelievable. One would have considered Piyush Chawla would have been a better replacement for world cup to keep in bench. But it was not Dhoni who captained India. It was Ganguly. Yes, there was and there is politics in Indian cricket. But never lesser was the joy on an Indian fan's face whenever 11 players gathered together to forming a circle, when a wicket falls irrespective to which team they played against or which match situation it was.

No matter how the strength was on paper, India remained only paper tigers  for a longer period in  history of test cricket outside India. A win at Haedingley, an Adelaide or a Rawalpindi is not familiar for a "Captain Cool" or a "Vice president" of Indian Cements. There comes the "HOW" ..... Which only Ganguly can figure out ..... So keeping it down by the fact that a lot of finals have been thrown off or outclassed in many ways Ganguly has always been a passionate leader. If some one like Yuvraj says that "He will do anything for  captain like Gangly" after a four year period of retirement of the captain guess what the influence Dada had on his growth(success) ????? How could one promote a middle order batsman to opening and goes on to become the most destructive player after Viv Richards?????? How could show belief in a part timer in the last over of  match with lead bowlers watching?????? How could one keep faith in a slip-fielder to be keeping wickets for a world tournament?????? Lets just eat and drink whatever Ganguly does. Don't have any other answer for these.

Its is easy to find a good player these days, to crop them and bring them to the highest level of game in some period. But, young guns creating moments in the history of game on their own- that is something you could only find under a captain who is highly an absorbing personality. No one bites his finger-nails so hard while fielding. No other captain worries about the performance of his fellow player more than the player himself. No other batsman gets angry for no reason when his partner gets out. Of course, he is emotional, outspoken, controversial. But that doesn't shatter his never-give up attitude in any way. Running around the ground after taking a wicket at the age of 39 like a young kid and the guts to take off his shirt at Lords. That is him. Only he can do it.


 Despite being rated as the sixth best ODI batsman of all time and impeccable records Ganguly clearly stands out as the best captaincy material India ever had. He was the God of Off-Side. He was the arrogant price from Kolkata. Evaluating him in terms match winning knocks and huge pile of runs wouldn't be a proper way to recall the memories of a captain who had the greatest influence in Indian cricket. You can love him or hate him but you just can't ignore him. Just go to kolkata and ask "who is Sourav Ganguly?" carelessly. 9 out of 10 times you will get slapped. Fact or story... sounds good when it is about Dada.