“There was the third Test at Nagpur in 2004. He requested a spinning wicket. The groundsman went against Sourav and made a good cricket wicket, hard with a bit of bounce, which suited our bowling attack more than theirs,”, former Australian cricketer Michael Kasprowicz recounts his memories of Sourav Ganguly.
“Ganguly was captain, but Rahul Dravid walks out to do the toss. Adam Gilchrist was our captain. Ricky Ponting was injured. Gilly asked, ‘What’s happened here? Where’s Ganguly?’ Dravid says: ‘Oh, who knows?’ ”
Ganguly not only skipped the toss. He threw the toys out of the cot, withdrawing from the game altogether. India fell apart like a pack of cards, losing the match by 342 runs and hence the much-coveted Border Gavaskar trophy. Arrogance afterall comes with a hefty price. Sourav was considered by many as arrogant, rude, in your face, and had the ability to get under your flesh. Steve Waugh was ruthless and the cricketing world faced his wrath. But he faced Ganguly’s, who famosuly kept the former Australian captain waiting at the toss on four consecutive occasions during the 2001 tour of India. Tragic Hero or Devious Villain? – take whichever side you may please, but you can’t deny his contribution in shaping the destiny of Indian cricket after the match-fixing scandal in 2000.
He was dropped from the Indian team after he managed to score only 3 runs against West Indies in 1992. But it wasn’t the poor showing with the bat that led to Ganguly being shown the door; it was his attitude that had him chucked out – since he famously refused to carry drinks onto the field for his teammates, the princely background speaking if i may add.
Respect, is not a gift that is unpacked and placed on a silver platter; which you enjoy on your mirth – it is but an accolade that has to be earned with time; and Sourav had a similar mentality.
The match fixing scandal at the turn of the century had ushered Indian cricket into its most turbulent period, and with Sachin refusing to accept the mantle of captaincy, Ganguly was handed India’s most enviable job in Sports. He began well as a captain, leading India to a series win over South Africa in the five-match one day series and led the Indian team to the finals of the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy, falling short at the final hurdle to the gritty Kiwis. But it was Australia’s tour of India in 2001 that would prove to be the turning point in Sourav’s reign as captain.
And so it did as India managed to trump Australia 2-1 in the test series, ending Australia’s run of 16 consecutive test match victories in the second test at Kolkata. Steve Waugh & Co. were thinking of ways to celebrate the conquest of their final frontier when a bold decision by Ganguly to send the stylish VVS Laxman to bat at No.3 paid off as the man from Hyderabad joined forced with an out-of-touch Rahul Dravid to plot Australia’s downfall with a 376 run stand for the fifth wicket as India declared at 657 for 7 and then bowled Australia out on the final day to complete the most glorious win in recent history. In the Fourth ODI against Australia, he caused further controversy by failing to wear his playing attire to the toss, and was the subject of further criticism. But all Sourav Ganguly cared about was how his team performed, and he bowed to nobody because he was a ‘Maharaja’ at heart and in his actions. And he attempted to instill the same fighting spirit in his team, and to Sourav’s credit, he succeeded handsomely.
India had everything going for them during Sourav’s regime. A fearless group of players with the ideal blend of experience and youth, young players nurtured by Sourav who became a regular fixture in the team with consistent performances, a foreign coach in John Wright who understood the importance of fitness and work ethic, and above all, a captain who wasn’t scared in putting himself across. After India won the 2002 Natwest Series winning the final at Lords after a stunning performance by Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, Sourav took off his shirt in public and brandished it in the air to celebrate India’s winning of the match. He was later strongly condemned for tarnishing the “gentleman’s game” image of cricket and disrespecting Lords protocol. But that was his way of replying back to Andrew Flintoff who had done the same in India.
And India’s glories under Sourav continued as they managed to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy after drawing the test series in Australia, and won a test series in Pakistan for the very first time in 2003-04. In 2003, India reached the World Cup Final for the first time since 1983, where they lost to the Australians. Ganguly had a successful tournament personally, scoring 465 runs at an average of 58.12, including three centuries. India had finally learnt to conquer their inner demons in overseas conditions. The so-called “flat-track bullies” who were called ‘soft’ away from home were making their nation proud under a skipper who dared to dream – who was more than happy to sacrifice his batting for the sake of the team, so much so that a dip in Ganguly’s personal batting performances coincided with India’s best run in test matches. Although he did thrill us with that sensational 144 at Brisbane in 2003.
Poor form and a misunderstanding with India’s new coach Greg Chappell eventually led to his ouster as captain in 2005, but Sourav proved that they don’t call him the “Prince of Calcutta” for nothing as he made a glorious comeback in 2006 and enjoyed his most successful period as batsman before eventually retiring after the home series against Australia in 2008.
He will forever be remembered as the guy who inspired India to believe they can perform in overseas conditions, and ushered in a new era of Indian cricket by placing his faith in young cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan – the architects of India’s World Cup success in 2011.
And not surprisingly, his biggest accomplishment has been getting up the noses of a team which succeeded in getting up the noses of everyone else — Australia.
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