Dada back as Captain

 

 

The contrast between Mohali near Chandigarh and Durban, South Africa was stark and glaring.

In Mohali, the captain was a bundle of energy and aggression, constantly encouraging and even berating his bowlers to enable Bengal to carve an improbable win over Punjab in a Ranji trophy match. In Durban, the captain looked despondent and crestfallen as the Indian cricket team was once again blown away by South Africa.

In Mohali, the captain was Sourav Ganguly, condemned by the coach Greg Chappell and banished to the fringes of Indian cricket. In Durban, the captain was the Chappell favourite Rahul Dravid; the ‘wall’ who now looks as endangered as the Berlin Wall. And now, an exclusive pan-India survey conducted by Indian Council for Market Research for TSI in November 2006 reveals (and not surprisingly at all!) that 75% of Indians want the Bengal tiger back at the helm of Team India. Tired of embarrassing defeats, a thumping majority in India wants the enthusiastically belligerent Sourav Ganguly back as captain. And would prefer Greg Chappell to be given a one way ticket to Australia to ‘experiment’ with Kangaroos!

But wasn’t this very Sourav Ganguly accused of ‘spoiling’ the perception of cricket? Of course! It was this Sourav Ganguly who spoilt the Indian cricket fan by building a ‘team’ that had self belief, stomach for a fight and the nerves of steel that won close encounters. It was this Sourav Ganguly who ‘spoilt’ the perception of Indians being ‘also-rans’ and nonchalantly created what surely was a smashing world class line-up that could not only stand up to, but even triumph over the challenges of Harmison and Jones at Headingley, McGrath and Lee at Brisbane and Akhtar and Mohd. Sami at Rawalpindi! With a win loss record that is better than the best, a generation came to realize that the Indian team could actually play as a team, could actually play to potential, could actually bowl teams out twice on international pitches instead of the ravines and ridges that pass off as 5th day pitches in India, and the batting line-up being the best in the world wasn’t necessarily a case of celebrating ‘the emperor’s new clothes’. The NatWest trophy in 2002, joint holders of the ICC trophy in 2003, World Cup finalists in South Africa, and ODI series triumphs against all and sundry; India had finally become a cricketing superpower in the field and was the only team giving Australia — arguably the greatest team of all time — a run for its dollars. Leadership and its worth cannot be measured in numbers. And there are enough instances in history to show that great captains do not necessarily have the best averages in the team. Greg Chappell should know if he recalls the Ashes series way back in 1981. Because he sat out the series, thus escaping a drubbing that ruined his successor Kim Hughes’ career as captain. England was 0-1 down and Ian Botham, the captain, was having a terrible time with bat and ball. England, in spite of having a very good team, had endured 12 matches without a win and Australia seemed to be running away with the series. Botham, displaying more sense than ambition, stepped down and selectors brought back from retirement a 39 year old cricketer with a career batting average of 22.88 from 39 tests. His name was Mike Brearley.

The team had players of the calibre of all time greats like Geoffrey Boycott, David Gower, Graham Gooch and Bob Willis, other than the inimitable Ian Botham. Mike Brearley was appointed captain, not because of his skills with the bat, but because of his skills with people. Brearley could galvanise the team, build self belief, motivate individuals and was considered worth his weight beyond gold and runs to the team. And he won the Ashes for England! Now, how many Indian captains can one think of who could worry the opposition on the dint of skills as a captain alone besides Ganguly. The controversy over his dismissal and his loss of form with the bat may have clouded popular perspective, but Ganguly’s greatness as a passionate leader and motivator is unparalleled in Indian Cricket. Tom Graveney, a great cricketer and former President of the Marylebone Cricket Club once said of Brearley, “I have never been one for believing that a captain should win an automatic place in a team. Mike Brearley was the exception. He fully justified his place as a captain (alone).” Likewise, Sourav, irrespective of his batting form, fully justifies his place as a captain and mentor; and with the World Cup in view, should be allowed to even fail as a player, as long as he succeeds as a captain. Or would the by now very ‘blue’ billion prefer the Dravid, who might consistently succeed as a batsman and fail as a captain? And if the administrators want to rebuild the team after the World Cup, Ganguly should be made aware of their plans even as he is given the assignment so that one of the greatest champions of the game can have the dignified and glorious farewell he truly deserves. However, Dravid at 33, almost the same age as Ganguly, is no spring chicken and definitely not Ganguly’s logical replacement. As for Chappell, his sins have been celebrated enough. His experiments have failed. His team has developed bad habits like losing confidence and form, spilling catches and e-mails, conceding extras and boundaries and plummeting in the rankings. As former cricketer Chetan Chauhan says, “Chappell has destroyed coordination in the team”. Forget all well documented experiments being foisted upon the Indian team since 2005. Even a brief analysis of the team selection for the ongoing tour of South Africa will reveal the arbitrary nature of Chappell’s whimsical tactics. When Irfan Pathan was going through a bad patch and was being clobbered on the flat and dead pitches of India, Chappell was persistent in his public statements that Irfan is a class act and that Indian fans need to show more patience. Yet, Pathan was not included in the playing eleven in the second match against South Africa when the bouncy and fast pitches could have helped his style of swing bowling. Pathan got a place in the third match only because Munaf Patel was injured. And it would have been hilarious, if the results were not so disastrous, to watch batsmen like Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Mongia waltz in and out of the team!

The most telling indicator of Greg Chappell’s failure has been the fielding performance of the team. One of the reasons cited by Chappell for throwing out Ganguly from the team was his allegedly poor fielding. And the Australian kept making arrogant noises about how he will dramatically improve the fielding skills of the Indian team and take them to the levels displayed by Australia. Far from improving, there has been a decline in the fielding standards of the team. During the Durban drubbing, both Dravid and Tendulkar dropped Justin Kemp who then went on to destroy the Indian bowling.

The way things are at the moment, both Chappell and Ganguly cannot bat for India. The BCCI barons must quickly make a choice between the two. Going purely by performance, the contest between Chappell and Ganguly should be a no brainer! The team that won hearts and trophies yesterday is almost the same as the team that consistently loses by a 100 runs or more today. The only difference is the captain. Sourav Ganguly should come back to the Indian team; and preferably as captain.

The poor pitches get blamed because they can’t talk back. Australians learn the game on bouncy wickets and win on India’s dustbowls, England’s seaming tracks and West Indies’ two paced turf. Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and if you jog your memory, even a certain SC Ganguly have all performed with élan on all kinds of wickets. Each country has its own strengths and pitches which is what makes the game interesting. Players with class and character excel irrespective of the surface or the sport. Just look at the record of a Brian Lara, a Sachin Tendulkar, a Ricky Ponting or even a Bjorn Borg or Roger Federer. Playing conditions don’t matter when a team has passion, commitment and talent, players do. And what matters is a captain who can help the players play to their potential. Sourav Ganguly, the record holder for the highest number of century partnerships for the opening wicket in ODIs, with the second highest number of ODI hundreds in his bag and more importantly the 9th greatest Test captain in cricket history (a cozy seat he shares with a certain GS Chappell) and India’s greatest by a few thousand miles or more, is that captain. India’s World Cup dreams can be realized only if the inspirational ‘Captain Courageous’ takes up the reins. The answers are out there. Where are the takers? As Lara, Ponting and Yousuf reach for the crown, it’s time Tendulkar showed ’em who is boss!

Form and fortune can be cruel mistresses. Till a few years ago, there was virtual unanimity amongst cricket aficionados that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar will forever be etched in memory as the greatest batsman of his generation; and arguably the second best batsman in the world after Donald Bradman. Brian Lara of West Indies was considered to be brilliant, yet inconsistent. And Ricky Ponting of Australia was nowhere in the picture; analysts also thought Ponting’s technique was suspect against quality spin bowling. And not many had heard of Yousuf Youhanna of Pakistan, who now goes by the name of Mohhamed Yousuf after converting to Islam.

Yet, in a stunning reversal of fortunes, Lara, Ponting and Yousuf have displayed such amazing form in 2006 that the golden bat of Tendulkar pales in comparison. Piling century after century Lara has come within touching distance of the Tendulkar record of 35 centuries. In fact, he might have equalled it by the time you read this magazine. Lara is already well ahead of Tendulkar when it comes to the number of test runs compiled- 11,904 runs versus 10,469 for Tendulkar. More importantly, Lara has two massive test scores of 400 not out and 375 while Tendulkar has somehow failed to notch up a triple century in his long and glittering career. Another telling statistics: Tendulkar has played two test matches more than Lara till date and yet Lara has scored about 1,500 runs more! And of course, Lara has become legendary for saving West Indies from certain defeats umpteen number of times. In the recent past Tendulkar simply cannot claim such a track record.

The track record of Ponting is even more amazing. He is that rare test batsman approaching a batting average of 60. According to former Australian captain Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting is almost certain to have the greatest batting record after Bradman by the time he is through with his career. Ponting has cracked an astounding 23 centuries in the last four years. He has perhaps the most fearsome reputation as a classic match winner for Australia during the really big matches. Just recently, his 196 in the first Ashes Test against England helped Australia demolish the traditional rivals. And who can forget the sizzling century that he racked against India in the 2003 World Cup finals, an innings that literally destroyed any hopes of India playing catch up with the world champions.

But what takes the cake when it comes to superlative performances in 2006 is Mohammed Yousuf. He has created a new world record by smashing 8 centuries in calendar year 2006. The previous record of 7 centuries was held by two cricketing legends Vivian Richards of West Indies and Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka. By the time you read this story, he might also have broken another Viv Richards record of the most test runs (1710) in a calendar year. Mohammed Yousuf has clearly become a formidable run making machine.

The million dollar question is: Will Tendulkar be eventually eclipsed by these players? Unless injury kills his career, Tendulkar (33 years old) is certain to surpass Lara who is 37 years old and at the fag end of his career. Analysts are also convinced that the stupendous form displayed by the 32 year old Mohhamed Yousuf will probably not last very long. In any case, Yousuf still has just 22 centuries.

If there is one batsman who can threaten Tendulkar’s status as the best batsman of his generation, it is Ponting. Younger and fitter than Tendulkar, he has shown decisively better form in the last few years. The question is, will Tendulkar allow Ponting to take away his crown? Tendulkar has faced and surmounted many challenges and challengers in his career and it is time the Tendulkar of old struck a World Cup full of cricket gold!