Saptarshi Sarkar - Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy

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Sourav Ganguly

CRICKET, CAPTAINCY AND CONTROVERSY

SAPTARSHI SARKAR

Dedication

To,

My idol in this beautiful game and the last word in Test cricket in India: Sunil Manohar Gavaskar;

Sourav Gangulys constant source of inspiration, his father, late Chandi Ganguly and elder brother and former Bengal Ranji player, Snehashish Ganguly (Raj-da);

Stalwarts in cricket coverage (print and media) who have redefined cricket: former Somerset captain and columnist late Peter Roebuck, journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Ayaz Memon, Goutam Bhattacharya, Boria Mazumdar and Anilavo Chatterjee; and

Millions of true Dada fans across the globe.

Contents

1
The Enigma of Sourav Ganguly

Sourav, an ODI great but just a level short in Tests

Sunil Gavaskar

C ricket underwent a transformation in the mid-1970s when it became a game of the white ball, floodlights and coloured attire, thanks to Aussie media baron Kerry Packer and his World Series cricket. Although Test cricket had been number one in the popularity charts till then, one-day international (ODI) cricket was catching up. Unlike Test cricket, where a five-day game was often declared closed without any conclusion, each ODI match gave results at close of a days play. Cricketers started to be differentiated on the basis of their game: Test or one-dayer.

The Prudential World Cup in the 1970s and Indias win in 1983 created a wave of ODI cricket fans. Add to that the 1987 Reliance Cup, which was hosted in the subcontinent, and you had people going crazy about the new format.

Sourav Ganguly (Dada to his fans) began his international career in 1992, playing an ODI. He was shunted out for four years immediately after the match but he made a magnificent comeback with a brilliant century in his debut Test at Lords in 1996.

Ganguly remains an enigma in both forms of the game. The numbers, when he retired in 2008, indicated that as an ODI player he is easily one of the best ever. Add to this his dynamic captaincy, which paved the way for unprecedented Test success for India. However, the jury is divided about his Test career, and the general consensus is that he was just about above average in Tests no doubt his achievements in Tests pale in comparison to his ODI record and his greatness as captain.

Sourav Ganguly has as many fans as critics. Many rooted for his inspirational leadership and God on the off side status, while many others criticized him for his lack of athleticism and the inelegant manner in which he would jump at short deliveries. Though he started as a classy Test player with two back-to-back centuries in his debut Test series in England, with time, Ganguly started experimenting with risky shots and emerged as a top-notch
ODI player.

His performance in the debut series and several man-of-the-match awards acquired in series played against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia secured him a place in the team. As he began to pile on the runs, his confidence went up leading to powerful stroke play. Ganguly was soon promoted to the top order in the ODIs and formed the most destructive opening pair in limited-over cricket with Sachin Tendulkar, even surpassing the famous Caribbean duo Gordon GreenidgeDesmond Haynes.

But there is always a flipside to everything. Ganguly wasnt comfortable playing short balls in Test cricket and often got out because of mistimed hooks and pulls. Once bowlers realized this weakness, they had him out in no time. He performed well in ODIs as there was a restriction on short balls in this format.

Sourav Gangulys knock of 131 made him the third player to achieve the rare feat of a century on debut at Lords after Harry Graham and John Hampshire (later, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior emulated the feat). It remains the highest by a debutante at Lords. His 136 in the next Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, was only the third instance, after Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharan, of a player scoring a century in his first two innings. His 255-runs partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in the course of this innings is the highest by Indians against any country for any wicket outside India at the time. The Test ended in a draw; England won the series 10; Ganguly scored 48 in the second innings. It was a fairy-tale Test debut that took him to the top of the tour chart, including first-class games, with 762 runs (among them three centuries) at an average of 95.25, pushing master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar to second spot.

But Gangulys happiness was short-lived because he couldnt bat well in the next few Tests, especially against South Africa in India and outside. After a relative lull, he bounced back in the later part of 1997 with three centuries in four Tests, all against Sri Lanka. Two of these involved 250-plus partnerships with Tendulkar.

Sourav Ganguly made his maiden ODI ton, scoring 113 against Sri Lanka in 1997. The same year, he won four consecutive man-of-the-match awards during the Sahara Cup at Toronto against Pakistan; this included one for a brilliant five-wicket haul, conceding just 16 runs in 10 overs, his best ODI bowling figure. In January the very next year, he scored 124 in the Independence Cup final in Dhaka while chasing Pakistans daunting score of 314.

Gangulys batting in limited-overs cricket became deadlier, especially after he was promoted to opening batsman. Left-hander Ganguly and right-hander Tendulkar wove magic on the field. Field restrictions in the first 15 overs in ODIs allowed good strikers like Ganguly to move the bat freely; he would dance down the track and hit over extra cover and mid-off. He was brutal against left-arm spinners because of his ability to pick the length early and hit the ball in the air over mid-on or mid-wicket.

The GangulyTendulkar opening partnership was extremely successful in ODI formats, and the pair scored the highest number of century partnerships, 16, for the first wicket. Together, they scored 6609 runs at an average of 49.32 and shared the highest first-wicket partnership record for India in an ODI (258) against Kenya in 2001.

Ganguly smashed a career-best 183 runs off 158 balls, hitting 17 fours and 7 sixes during the 1999 World Cup against Sri Lanka at Taunton, England. His score was the second highest in World Cup history and remains the highest by an Indian in the tournament. Gangulys partnership of 318 with Dravid in this match is the highest overall score in a World Cup and the second highest in ODI history.

Between 1999 and 2000, his impressive ODI batting form, with five centuries, catapulted him to the top of the PwC One-day Ratings for batsmen.

In 2000, following the match-fixing scandal and after Sachin Tendulkar relinquished his captaincy, Sourav Ganguly was made captain of the Indian team. He guided the team to a series win over SA in a five-match ODI series and led India to the finals of the 2000 ICC Knockout Trophy. He also hit two centuries in this series, including one in the final against New Zealand, though India lost the match. Between 2000 and 2005, even as a legendary Test captain was in the making, Gangulys individual performance took a beating, especially after the World Cup in 2003, in particular the tour of Australia in 2003 and the Pakistan Series in 2004. His insipid batting and the controversial spat between Greg Chappell and himself guaranteed his ouster from the Indian side. But Ganguly clocked a sensational comeback in the away series against South Africa in 200607.