Sorrow Ganguly

Siddhartha Mishra / TNN / Sep 28, 2005, 21:26 IST

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Presenting the scorecard of Ganguly as captain. Over to the Ex Men...

Presenting the scorecard of Ganguly as captain. Over to the Ex Men...
PLUSES
Winning
"With the most number of wins under his belt, the fact is that, on paper, Sourav is the best captain the country has ever produced," says Ajit Wadekar. Echoes Dilip Vengsarkar: "He has the best track record among Indian captains �� you can't take that away from him."

Aggression
For Rakesh Shukla, Sourav is "an out-andout" attacking captain."Being timid is not his style. He's always been a tit-for-tat captain. Sourav's waving of his shirt after the Natwest Trophy final is a sign of his in-your-face aggression," says Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Confidence
"Quite unlike previous captains, Sourav built the team by backing youngsters like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Harbhajan," says Vivek Razdan. Abbas Ali Baig echoes this view: "Sourav has this knack of having his way. This has helped him back youngsters with talent." Elaborates Kirti Azad: "No youngster can prove himself in a handful of matches. Those who have got an extended run have benefited."

Motivation
"Sourav took over during a turbulent phase in Indian cricket; he has given team members security. Change is not necessarily progress �� you always build a farm with an old cock and a new bull," says Sidhu.
"He has contributed to building team spirit. It's unfair to say Sourav has promoted certain players," says Wadekar. Vengsarkar's take: "Unless one has played with Sourav, it's difficult to analyse his mind. Don't jump to conclusions based on allegations."
Strategist
"You can't fault Sourav's strategy as captain just because bowlers don't bowl to their field or batsmen don't score runs," says Shukla.
MINUSES
Whining
As Sidhu says: "The best way to keep good acts in public memory is to perform new ones. Setting an example is the best sermon Sourav can deliver." Baig feels Sourav's "inability to score runs has affected his judgment as captain, thus affecting the whole team."
Arrogance
"What aggression?" asks Azad. "Why doesn't this eyeball intimidation help us win against teams other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh?" Adds Razdan: "Sourav is taking his place in the team for granted �� that's arrogance. How does he know we can't have a better captain?"
Complacence
"The youngsters that Sourav once backed don't face competition for their places in the team today �� this has made them complacent," says Baig. In Maninder Singh's words, "Sourav persisted with players like Parthiv for far too long.
Playing favourites never helps. It's simply because he has pampered his boys that we now hear complaints about Chappell pushing the team too hard."
Manipulation
"He's promoted certain players at the expense of others. Any player who plays for a long time uses his manipulative skills. Sourav is no exception," says Surinder Khanna.
Opportunist
Madan Lal says: "Sourav inherited a mature team. A good team makes for a good captain." While Baig reiterates that "Sourav's record has been backed by individual performances," Razdan says he is "definitely not" a master strategist.
Khanna says that India has "lost to good teams from winning positions" in the last 8-10 months. "A good captain is able to drive home the advantage."
Sourav's Captaincy Report Card
8/10:
Ajit Wadekar
8/10:
Rakesh Shukla
7/10:
Dilip Vengsarkar
7/10:
Navjot Singh Sidhu
6/10:
Abbas Ali Baig
6/10:
Madan Lal
5/10:
Kirti Azad
7/10:
Raju Mehta
Remarks
"Sourav took the team to great rights. But does he have the right to bring it down too?"
Maninder Singh
"Ganguly has been the most successful captain till now for Team India"
Raju Mehta
"If you think of shortterm gains, long-term prospects are hampered "
Kirti Azad
"The time has come for the selectors to take a hard decision"
Madan Lal
Sourav on Maharaj
"I don't think it's right to say that I won't be able to hold a Test spot as a batsman. I agree I have not played well in the last 6-7 months. But when you have been around for 10 years, you go through periods like that. I've nothing left to prove as a captain. It is important that the team does well regardless of whoever leads it."
R.I.P. Van Winkle
Indian cricket mourns the death of attitude. Used, misused, abused, it now has anachronistic connotations like Sourav Gangulyisms. Yes, time was when attitude was the 'everything' word: standing for aggression, cohesion. And results. The teenies bopped, cricketers jigged to ads. Ah, attitude. Unfortunately, times change.
Attitude has been replaced by a very materialistic word �� 'performance'. 'Perform or perish' has become the scared chant. Attitude is now a frankenstein guilty of killing its own maker.
As the sensitive 2005s progress, Indian cricket needs a label which is more radical. Soon, 'performance' will be as sexy a word as attitude. And it will show results.
There are some things in life that a man normally doesn't admit to �� that he can only be part of a whole, that he no longer fits in, that the past is just that �� the past.
When Sourav Ganguly is through with playing multimedia phenomenon with a milliondollar smirk, he might realise that mavericks need to carve an identity again to merge with the mainstream. Will he or won't he? Can he? Indian cricketdom deserves an answer.

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