In India,
cricket is thought to be a religion. Crores of Indians worship our cricketers
as God. Lakhs of people are engaged with this game by several ways. The
craziness of Indians for this game in own country and every place worldwide are
known to all. Cricket is like festival in India. But the story was not same always.
There were ups and downs. In 2000, during the India – South Africa series,
Delhi police intercepted a conversation between a blacklisted bookie and Hansie
Cronje exposing the betting scandal. Investigation revealed the names of two
Indian cricketers. People somehow lost their hope and fantasy from the game. At
that dark moment of Indian cricket a man with his brilliance of captaincy again
motivated supporters and arose new hope for the national team (though Sachin
Tendulkar was selected as captain but he handed over his captaincy).The man is
none other than the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ Sourav Ganguly,our very own Dada
(elder brother in Bengali), present president of BCCI.
Though Ganguly
became captain in 2000, but spirit of leadership was in his blood from his early
age. He is right hander but he learnt to bat left-handed just to use his elder
brother’s sporting gear because his family was initially against his passion
for cricket. When Ganguly was 19 years old after playing 1 match against West
Indies in Brisbane he was dropped from the team. With the help of his ‘never
give up’ attitude he scored many runs in domestic cricket during 1993-94 and
1994-95 season and again was called in for his test match debut in England in
1996.
Ganguly was
known for his bold decisions in fields. On July 13,2002 in Lords balcony
Ganguly took off his shirt, swung over his head and cheered up his young players
(Yuvraj Singh and Md. Kaif), have shown his trust as a captain on new comers in
the team. Once Ganguly selected a player, he supported that player completely.
An example can be taken of MS Dhoni who performed miserably in his initial
matches but later made history. In the time of Ganguly’s leadership Indian team
got many Gems like Yuvraj Singh (Man of the series in 2011 World Cup), Zahir
Khan, Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni (one of the greatest captains and wicket
keepers in cricket world).
Ganguly created
a clear-cut vision for his team. For one day format “winning the World cup” and
for the test format was “winning test matches in England, Australia and South Africa”.
Though his team did not win World cup. But taking the team in 2002 world cup
final, where two years back team was grappled with match-fixing incidences is a
big achievement itself. Indian team won most overseas test matches (11) under
Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy (recently this record is piped by Virat Kohli).
Ganguly realized
that the game was changing, while a batsman and a bowler can fail but a fielder
shall always save a few runs. These could be a few runs less in the target to
chase or a few extra runs for the opposition. In the way of this vision, he
roped in fresh blood such as Yuvraj Singh, Mohd. Kaif, Virendra Sehwag, MS
Dhoni, Suresh Raina etc. Ganguly was very confident about his decisions. He
showed that to his team mates, coaches, press and selectors also. In the time
of Chappell -Ganguly controversy, the dispute stirred up strong emotions in India,
ranging from fiery street protests in Ganguly’s home town Kolkata to speeches
in the Parliament of India. Eventually Ganguly was recalled to the team in late
2006.
Ganguly ensured
that the change is embedded in the system of Indian Cricket. Although it can be
debated that the changes in system cannot be done by a singular person, we can
safely consider that Ganguly as a leader was instrumental in these organizational
changes. National Cricket Academy in Bangalore was established. A full-time
fitness coach was made as integral part of the team. Foreign coaches were
brought in. Separate batting and bowling coaching system was established.
Upcoming players were given exposure to international environment by organizing
Team A / Under 19 etc. tours overseas. Some happened within his tenure and
others later, but it was his vision.
Ganguly was a
leader who changed the course of Indian cricket. What we have achieved under
Rahul Dravid, Kumble, Dhoni and now Kohli is set in the foundation made by the
leadership of Sourav Ganguly. He taught Indian cricket to be aspirational,
fearless and hungry. He imbibed the attitude of aggressively fighting hard in
the field and not yield an in inch to the opposition while in the field. He is
contributing to the Indian Cricket as an administrator now and his enthusiasm
is as high as it was when he was a captain. At last Ganguly never bears an
image of fictional superstar, he is our very own elder brother who guides us as
we call him ‘Dada’.
By Zavizah.
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