This captain wears no mask
Venkat Ramkumar - 09 May 2002

Traditional wisdom suggests that the leader of a team should betray no emotion on the field. His team might be perched on razor's edge, but the skipper's face should stay impassive. He might be dying a thousand deaths, but, for the sake of the team and his own survival, he has to behave as if nothing is wrong with his world.

In short, then, he should appear to be the master of all he surveys, capable of miracles in even the most adverse situations.

If that traditional wisdom is to be believed and followed, then Sourav Ganguly, India's most successful captain abroad (statistically) is not our man.

At the Queen's Park Oval, Ganguly's extreme swings of mood - brooding, sullen, tense, happy, joyous - manifesting themselves though his highly emotive face, could have fetched him an Oscar.

And when victory was achieved, a prancing Ganguly's full-throated cry would have done a Tarzan proud, although it may also have embarrassed the cricket fan steeped in antiquated tradition. Though India did lose in the third Test, and though Ganguly walked off a sullen man, he offered lion-hearted efforts in both innings and showed both courage and determination.

Why, then, do the pundits say that there is a place for a Steve Waugh in cricket, but not for a man who wears his emotions on his sleeve and is not afraid to display them? Ganguly has brought this Indian team together, and he has done it with all our laughing in his face. He must, then, be commended.

Perhaps the time has come to change our perceptions and also accept a flawed hero as a leader of some consequence. Ganguly will never be a role model for perfectionists. How, for instance, could a captain keep his counterpart waiting for the toss - and that too someone like Waugh - as he did on a couple of occasions in the 2001 home series?

But Ganguly did just that, giving the Australians some of their own medicine. The visitors, as a consequence, criticised him roundly through the media, but who was the one smiling at the end of it all? One is not sure, therefore, whether the Australians hate him more for snubbing their captain or for winning against the "greatest" team ever to have walked the face of this earth.

That the Australians hate him is perhaps understandable, but why the Indians? Why is there so much negative press about Ganguly? Is it a genuine reaction to his batting failures in Test cricket, or is it because the man is not a conformist?

Is it, maybe, because he is seen as a pretender? A pretender to the throne that went to him by default when the rightful candidate - Sachin Tendulkar - chose to abdicate his kingdom.

It must be galling, nay, even heartbreaking, for Ganguly that, even after having won the Port of Spain Test last week, his credentials as a leader are still being questioned.

Before the Test began, there was one big question mark - there always is - over his batting. He had sought Geoffrey Boycott's help to sort out his technical problems in facing the short ball and heeded his advice by reverting to his normal spot in the batting order.

The second question mark was over his captaincy, made worse by his decision of dropping Anil Kumble. That even emboldened his critics enough to say that the team was on the verge of a mutiny.

There is no question that, had India lost the Test, the clamour to send Ganguly to the gallows would have reached a crescendo. In the end, not only did India win, not only did Ganguly score runs, but the team also fought like they have rarely done. Their hunger for success was there for all to see, and if television images are to be believed, if ever there was a well-knit unit, it was this team.

Before the Test, there were some suggestions in a few reports that Javagal Srinath was unhappy at state-mate Kumble's exclusion. Even if he was, it didn't seem to deter him from giving his best in helping his team win.

There was, therefore, a method to Ganguly's madness when he jumped into Srinath's arms immediately after the victory. It was an acknowledgement of the role that Srinath's lion-hearted effort had played in the win.

It is obvious to most that Ganguly commands a lot of respect among his teammates, particularly among the younger members, for whom he has taken on the selectors. It is no secret that Harbhajan Singh played against Australia at home on Ganguly's insistence, as the talented Yuvraj Singh did later.

Both Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan owe their return to the team to the Indian captain. As these cases prove, Ganguly has the foresight to judge talent and the strength to back his judgement, even if the selectors, at times, do not agree with him.

Most of his problems in Test cricket arise due to the poor form that has prevailed ever since he took over as India's captain. His averages have slipped, and he is seen struggling against the short ball. But to give the devil his due, he has played no mean role in two of the four Tests India have won abroad under him, something one can't say of even Tendulkar.

Ganguly's unbeaten 98 against Sri Lanka and now his unbeaten 75 at Port-of-Spain only show that when it comes to handling pressure and delivering in a crunch, Ganguly, despite what his critics say, can be relied upon.

It is perhaps the fate of most Indian cricket captains to face the wrath of the public and the press, especially since India win so few matches. Ganguly is no exception, but unlike most captains of the past, the graceful left-hander from Kolkata wears no mask, and his face hides no emotions.

Like him or hate him, then, Sourav Ganguly is here to stay

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
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