Summary: Not only as a captain of the Indian national cricket team, Sourav Ganguly has also earned appreciations by being a prolific batsman. He has been tried and tested in a number of hostile situations, which helped him to be one of the greatest left-handers not only in Indian cricket, but in world cricket also.
More than the former skipper of the Indian national cricket team, Sourav Ganguly is viewed upon as a folk hero whose heroic exploits are passed from one generation to another. Hate him or love him - you got to admit it is he who brought in a major transformation in the overall approach of Indian cricket. Once considered to be a fierce opponent in home but minnows outside, Indian cricket has successfully left such a tag behind. Currently, it is the # 1 test team and also the cricket world cup champs.
Ganguly, along with John Wright, the former Indian coach, spearheaded Indian cricket to bask in the glory of this epoch-making feat. It did look he practised favouritism in some cases, but had earned the stripes by then. He is believed to have nurtured many young talents who have played under his captaincy. His faith on his players’ ability and backing them up with appropriate chances have often resulted into extracting the best performances on the field. This quality earned Ganguly the “players’ captain” sobriquet.
Some of the most notable feats that rest under Sourav’s belt are defeating Australia when they toured India with a dream run of 16 consecutive wins, Natwest Series win in England, clinching the Friendship Series against arch-rival Pakistan, runners-up in 2003 cricket world cup, and of course, drawing the test series in Australia. Although Sourav Ganguly is projected as one of the protagonists of Indian cricket folklore, his journey was not a cakewalk. He, too, like any other commonplace individual have had to face a roller-coaster ride.
The very first setback came in Ganguly’s cricketing career in 1992 when he started his ODI stint against the West Indies. The reasons of his being left out was more to do with his arrogance and behaviour, rather than performance. However, after scoring heavily in the domestic level, Ganguly was recalled to join the national team for England tour in 1996. At there, he was left out for the first test but got a berth in the second one after Navjot Singh Sidhu left the tour halfway. And then there was no turning back for him.
Ganguly played a brilliant knock of 131 in the first innings of the second test at Lords, which was followed by another century in the third and last test at Trent Bridge. These back to back centuries somewhat cemented Ganguly’s position in the then Indian cricket team. From there until 2005, Ganguly played some brilliant knocks that earned him both national and international accolades. In the 2005 the infamous Chappell-Ganguly saga broke out that cost Ganguly not only his captaincy but even a place in the national team.
However, a strong public protest all throughout the nation and indifferent performances by his replacements enforced the national selectors to bring back Ganguly in both formats of the game in 2006. Ganguly justified the chance and continued to amass runs under his kitty. Both the years of 2006 and 2007 have seen Ganguly in a more devastating form. Two of the most notable feats in his career: a test century in his home ground Eden Gardens, and a maiden double hundred in test cricket were achieved by him after he made a comeback.
Just prior to the October 2008 test series against Australia, Ganguly announced his retirement from the game. In his last international test series, he amassed 324 runs at a commendable average of 54.00. Though many of the cricketing experts felt that he could have continued playing as the flair was still within him, Ganguly wanted to leave the stage with head held high.
He started with a century in this first test and ended with a duck. Don Bradman also ended up with a duck, and when I see the Lords game today….memories flashback on the rise of the Tiger….
Such is the quality of my true prince; a prince called Sourav!
