1987 Reliance World Cup introduced me to the world of cricket. There was a kind of sudden sprout of patriotism everywhere in India thanks to the winning of previous world cup held in 1983. Till 1987 world cup, I was not much exposed to cricket or for that matter any other sport.
I vividly remember scenes when my cousins and I were glued to the idiot box right from the titles before every match when the cricketing eleven were introduced with their names as sub-titles. Srikkanth and Sidhu were hot favorites initially and my dad was vehemently discussing match results with his friends everyday :) Nostalgic, huh !!!
Like every other Indian, the cricket fever started gripping me and my everyday routine included playing cricket from 4 pm to sunset; galli cricket that was :) and that went on for next 10 years. Never used to miss watching a match especially when India was playing. Patriotism was all about cheering Indian cricket team then.
But Indian team was always an under-dog and had a defensive attitude. Never went aboard with the intention of playing despite having all-time greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and co. Kapil Dev was the only player and captain who had shown some kind of fighting and winning spirit.
Then came the sensation who later was called as the master blaster or the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar himself. Sachin was a phenomenon when he kicked off and I remember him as a darling of girls as was projected in news stories too. He revolutionized cricket and started intimidating other players double his age and experience. Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja and Vinod Kambli brought in fresh breath into the team which was otherwise infested with politics, carelessness, negligence despite fine talent.
Until 1996, Sachin was the only saving grace and the whole team was dependent only on his performance and consistency. Advent or Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid changed the scene. Indian team batting line-up during 1996 world cup was the strongest on paper with Md Azhar at the helm with Jadeja, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid forming the formidable line up. Though the team reached semis, the winning attitude was a distant fantasy and match fixing scandals aggravated the situation. Azhar, Jadeja had to quit leaving the command to Sachin.
Sachin Tendulkar proved that his individual technical skills are not enough to make a formidable team. It takes much more. As Harsha Bhogle pointed out in one of his recent speeches at IIMA that attitude is more important than talent and that is something displayed by Sourav Ganguly, the next captain who is the architect of modern Indian cricket which knows what is winning.
Sourav was the kind of captain who taught to fight back, who instilled the winning attitude, who never feared to support his team members, who taught how not to get bogged down by sledging, who made evident the importance of confidence factor and how to psychologically win over opponents. These kind of non-technical intricacies were very important to pull the team from the conservative defensive mode, the team was known for.
The winning team or so called match winners like Sehwag, Bhajji, Pathan,Yuvraj, Dhoni, Gambhir, Zaheer were either handpicked or supported by him and were given ample chances to prove their mettle. Before Sourav's captaincy, Indian team never worked as a "team". The only other captains who built the team so meticulously and commanded the team affairs and showed true blue leadership skills were Arjuna Ranatunga, Allan Border and Vivian Richards.
All those silly brouhaha about his performance and silly jokes about his form were uncalled for as the age old saying goes, form is temporary and class is permanent. He was called God on off side, his square cuts, square drives were infallible, his timing, his lofts over midwicket were one of a kind. For all those who criticize him for not being a good player, the records shout louder than their cribs
So clearly, he is the best batsman India has seen after Sachin. Yes, not even Rahul Dravid, Sehwag or others come close inspite of playing in more ODIs than Sourav (who started his career in 1992 but was kept aside till 1996). With 22 centuries in ODIs, he again is second to Sachin. Rahul and co are far behind here too. Dada was the guy who scored most runs for India in the previous world cup (after being written off and sacked from the team earlier).
In test matches too, Sourav's average was more than 40 and despite being criticized as a bad fielder, he took more than 100 catches in both forms of cricket which put him in top 7 in fielding in Indian cricket history. And yeah he was a medium pacer too and has records of 5 scalps which again was done by very few.
Now who can blame him for being a bad player ? His limitations in playing short pitch balls, leg-side, running between the wickets didn't stop him to create records, win matches.
And during his captaincy, Sourav never encouraged regionalism by continually selecting and harboring players of his region unlike his predecessors or successors. No Bengali ever got undue advantage when Sourav was at helm. But he himself became a victim of regional discrimination coupled by propaganda and politics played by selectors like Kiran More, Dilip Vengsarkar and co. During the ugly spat with Chappell (who did no good for India during his stint as the coach), none of his contemporaries or team members benefited by him supported him.
He is a legend, good batsman, resourceful bowler, exceptional captain, born leader, DABANGG and a maharaja in its true sense. Dadagiri ROCKS and his legacy is unmatched and unforgettable.
PS: I stopped watching cricket after his exit.
I vividly remember scenes when my cousins and I were glued to the idiot box right from the titles before every match when the cricketing eleven were introduced with their names as sub-titles. Srikkanth and Sidhu were hot favorites initially and my dad was vehemently discussing match results with his friends everyday :) Nostalgic, huh !!!
Like every other Indian, the cricket fever started gripping me and my everyday routine included playing cricket from 4 pm to sunset; galli cricket that was :) and that went on for next 10 years. Never used to miss watching a match especially when India was playing. Patriotism was all about cheering Indian cricket team then.
But Indian team was always an under-dog and had a defensive attitude. Never went aboard with the intention of playing despite having all-time greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and co. Kapil Dev was the only player and captain who had shown some kind of fighting and winning spirit.
Then came the sensation who later was called as the master blaster or the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar himself. Sachin was a phenomenon when he kicked off and I remember him as a darling of girls as was projected in news stories too. He revolutionized cricket and started intimidating other players double his age and experience. Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajay Jadeja and Vinod Kambli brought in fresh breath into the team which was otherwise infested with politics, carelessness, negligence despite fine talent.
Until 1996, Sachin was the only saving grace and the whole team was dependent only on his performance and consistency. Advent or Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid changed the scene. Indian team batting line-up during 1996 world cup was the strongest on paper with Md Azhar at the helm with Jadeja, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid forming the formidable line up. Though the team reached semis, the winning attitude was a distant fantasy and match fixing scandals aggravated the situation. Azhar, Jadeja had to quit leaving the command to Sachin.
Sachin Tendulkar proved that his individual technical skills are not enough to make a formidable team. It takes much more. As Harsha Bhogle pointed out in one of his recent speeches at IIMA that attitude is more important than talent and that is something displayed by Sourav Ganguly, the next captain who is the architect of modern Indian cricket which knows what is winning.
Sourav was the kind of captain who taught to fight back, who instilled the winning attitude, who never feared to support his team members, who taught how not to get bogged down by sledging, who made evident the importance of confidence factor and how to psychologically win over opponents. These kind of non-technical intricacies were very important to pull the team from the conservative defensive mode, the team was known for.
The winning team or so called match winners like Sehwag, Bhajji, Pathan,Yuvraj, Dhoni, Gambhir, Zaheer were either handpicked or supported by him and were given ample chances to prove their mettle. Before Sourav's captaincy, Indian team never worked as a "team". The only other captains who built the team so meticulously and commanded the team affairs and showed true blue leadership skills were Arjuna Ranatunga, Allan Border and Vivian Richards.
All those silly brouhaha about his performance and silly jokes about his form were uncalled for as the age old saying goes, form is temporary and class is permanent. He was called God on off side, his square cuts, square drives were infallible, his timing, his lofts over midwicket were one of a kind. For all those who criticize him for not being a good player, the records shout louder than their cribs
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SR Tendulkar (India) | 1989-2010 | 442 | 431 | 41 | 17598 | 200* | 45.12 | 20401 | 86.26 | 46 | 93 | 20 |
| ST Jayasuriya (SL) | 1989-2009 | 444 | 432 | 18 | 13428 | 189 | 32.43 | 14719 | 91.22 | 28 | 68 | 34 |
| RT Ponting (Aus) | 1995-2010 | 352 | 343 | 37 | 13082 | 164 | 42.75 | 16226 | 80.62 | 29 | 79 | 19 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) | 1991-2007 | 378 | 350 | 53 | 11739 | 137* | 39.52 | 15812 | 74.24 | 10 | 83 | 20 |
| SC Ganguly (India) | 1992-2007 | 311 | 300 | 23 | 11363 | 183 | 41.02 | 15416 | 73.70 | 22 | 72 | 16 |
So clearly, he is the best batsman India has seen after Sachin. Yes, not even Rahul Dravid, Sehwag or others come close inspite of playing in more ODIs than Sourav (who started his career in 1992 but was kept aside till 1996). With 22 centuries in ODIs, he again is second to Sachin. Rahul and co are far behind here too. Dada was the guy who scored most runs for India in the previous world cup (after being written off and sacked from the team earlier).
In test matches too, Sourav's average was more than 40 and despite being criticized as a bad fielder, he took more than 100 catches in both forms of cricket which put him in top 7 in fielding in Indian cricket history. And yeah he was a medium pacer too and has records of 5 scalps which again was done by very few.
Now who can blame him for being a bad player ? His limitations in playing short pitch balls, leg-side, running between the wickets didn't stop him to create records, win matches.
And during his captaincy, Sourav never encouraged regionalism by continually selecting and harboring players of his region unlike his predecessors or successors. No Bengali ever got undue advantage when Sourav was at helm. But he himself became a victim of regional discrimination coupled by propaganda and politics played by selectors like Kiran More, Dilip Vengsarkar and co. During the ugly spat with Chappell (who did no good for India during his stint as the coach), none of his contemporaries or team members benefited by him supported him.
He is a legend, good batsman, resourceful bowler, exceptional captain, born leader, DABANGG and a maharaja in its true sense. Dadagiri ROCKS and his legacy is unmatched and unforgettable.
PS: I stopped watching cricket after his exit.
3 comments:
Well proved Sharath ! With due respects, Ganguly did have some shortcomings but tell me a person in this world who doesn't?
I stopped after Jadeja :).. I dont really understand the logistics and stuff behind it but the old days of cricket were Golden days to me.
After watching Ganguly's performance in 1996 world cup, I cant think of a name who can closely compete with him in 2011' world cup.
Agree Dadagiri Rocks !
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