The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Down, but not out

Despite the setbacks, it is too early to write off Sourav Ganguly, writes
Abhijit Chatterjee

Sourav Ganguly has returned to the nets to sort out his batting problems

Is this the end of the road for Sourav Ganguly? Or can he bounce back and lead the Men in Blue again? Only time can give answers to most of these questions.

However, it is premature to rule him out. Ganguly has it in him to make his critics eat their words. Otherwise, how can you explain his splendid return to international cricket in 1996 after the disastrous tour of Australia in 1991-92? When he was dumped after the Australian tour, few expected him to return to the squad and then lead it too.

The national selectors probably acted in haste when the six-match ban was slapped on him by match referee Chris Broad after the Ahmedabad one-dayer. Were the five wise men of Indian cricket acting on instructions or were they looking for an opportunity to sack Ganguly? Broad’s ruling probably came as an opportunity for them to wield the axe.

Surely, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), S.K. Nair, who is the convener of the national selection committee, knows the ICC rules that Ganguly could have played the Kanpur and Delhi one-dayers until the Appeal Commissioner finally decided. Did Nair brief the national selectors on this or was he ignorant of the ICC rules?

To rub salt into Ganguly’s wounds, the selectors did not recall him for the final one-day tie against Pakistan in Delhi when it was made known to them through the office of former BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya that Ganguly could continue to play till the outcome of his appeal. Obviously, it seems the national selectors were glad to see the back of him for a while.

No stranger to ICC bans (remember the ban after the Platinum Jubilee match against Pakistan at Kolkata last year and how it was overruled) Ganguly can still fight back and regain his place in the squad and the captaincy. In Dalmiya he has a supporter who is difficult to keep down even if the businessman from Kolkata has given up the top post in the board. He still does wield a lot of clout in the board, as well as the ICC.

Ganguly, soon to turn 33, still needs to iron out the shortcomings in his batting. In any case, the shortcoming recently noticed in his leadership have probably come due to his own lack of form with the bat. If the problems with his batting are sorted out the rest
would follow.

Going by reports, Ganguly has returned to the nets in an effort to sort these out. In the first four one-day matches of the series against Pakistan he had scores of 0, 9, 4 and 18. Earlier, in the drawn Test series, he scored 48 runs in five innings. Even Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq had a piece of advise for him. "It is a difficult thing to come out of this lean form. I have heard from my seniors that you should go back to the basics. It would help him," Inzamam was quoted as saying.

One view is that Ganguly should play county cricket in England this summer since there is a three-month hiatus in Indian cricket. In England, away from the burden of captaincy, Ganguly can concentrate on his batting and play cricket like he used to do a couple of seasons earlier. Even today, when executed, his cover drive is worthy of emulation. The problems could lie in getting a county assignment since all professionals must have been tied by various counties. Otherwise, Ganguly can play in the summer tournaments in Delhi or Mumbai since there is little cricketing activity in his home town Kolkata.

Like it or not, but Ganguly gave an altogether different meaning to Indian cricket and Indian captaincy. Dogma and tradition meant little to him. Even at the nets it was the Indian captain who ran the show and in this endeavour he got ample support from coach John Wright. In fact it was Ganguly, together with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, who opted to have Wright as the coach. The team made history last year by beating Pakistan and drawing level with Australia on their turf.

He was willing to lead from the front. When did any Indian captain remove his shirt on the balcony of Lord’s as Ganguly did to get his own back at England’s Andrew Flintoff who earlier went shirtless at the Wankhede Stadium at Mumbai? Or when was a visiting captain made to wait for the toss as Steve Waugh, trying to conquer the final frontier, was made to do.

Sourav has tremendous mental strength. The way he has moulded the team after taking over in 2000 when Indian cricket was in the dumps after the match fixing scandal can only suggest one thing: Indian cricket needs him as much as he needs Indian cricket.

Underdogs on top

Before Pakistan’s tour of India started, the visitors were staggering from one defeat to another and the hosts were looking to soar to greater heights.

When play ended last week after three Tests and six one-dayers, however, the turnaround could not have been more dramatic. Here are the highs and lows for the two teams in the series:

Pakistan

Inzamam-ul-Haq, who celebrated his 100th Test with a century in the third match in Bangalore, cemented his position as one of Pakistan’s greatest-ever batsmen and a captain to be reckoned with.

Coach Bob Woolmer, slammed by the Pakistan media after the side’s 3-0 drubbing in Australia last year, emerged as the man who can bring method to Pakistan’s individualistic madness.

Batsman Younis Khan, who scored 508 runs in the Test series, including a career-best 267 in Bangalore, justified his controversial selection as vice-captain and showed he could have all the ingredients needed to become a future skipper.

Explosive opener Shahid Afridi, who struck a 26-ball 50 to set up Pakistan’s victory in the Bangalore test, and a 45-ball 100 in the fifth one-day international, cemented his place as an invaluable member of the team with his destructive batting.

In a one-day rubber dominated by the bat, seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan claimed 15 wickets, including 6 for 27 in the Jamshedpur match, to be named man of the series.

The fighting partnership between Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq rescued Pakistan from certain defeat in the Mohali Test.

India

Virender Sehwag was in explosive form during the Test series. He topped the charts with an aggregate of 544 runs at 90.66, including 201 in Bangalore.

Mr Dependable Rahul Dravid scored 333 runs at 45.06 in the Tests and was the top scorer in the ODIs with 308 at 51.33.

M.S. Dhoni was the find of the series as he struck an amazing 148 playing at the number 3 slot in the Visakhapatnam one-dayer. His compiled 261 runs in the series at an impressive average of 43.50.

Anil Kumble destroyed Pakistan with a haul of 7 for 63 on the last day of the Kolkata Test. He took 17 wickets in the Test series at an average of 37.88.

Pakistan

The batting crumbled in the face of Anil Kumble’s leg spin in the Kolkata Test as the team lost a match they could have easily drawn.

Inzamam was slapped a one-match ban for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision.

India

Captain Sourav Ganguly’s batting form went from bad to worse. His average was an appalling 9.6 in the Tests and 7.75 in the first four one-dayers. The six-match ban added insult to injury.

The so-called Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar struggled to find his touch in both series.

VVS Laxman failed to deliver the goods in the Test series. He did regain some form in the Bangalore match, but was dropped for the subsequent ODI series.

Young guns Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh performed below par with the bat.

Irfan Pathan came a cropper in the Tests while Harbhajan Singh disappointed in the one-dayers.

The biggest blow was the departure of coach John Wright. — Agencies

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Remarkable Rookie

Narain Karthikeyan is raring to race in the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday

Although Narain Karthikeyan was among the early casualties during the Bahrain Grand Prix when he retired with engine trouble on the second lap, there is enough left in him to carry on with his agenda for the future. He will be seen in action tomorrow in the San Marino Grand Prix, which marks the beginning of the European leg of the Formula One season.

After his impressive start to the 2005 season, the F1 driver has set his sights on the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title, apart from a few points he wants to pick along the way.

"There is a good possibility that I could end up with the rookie title," Karthikeyan said. "All rookies will be aiming for it. There still is a long way to go in the season, so let us see what happens," he said.

The ‘Rookie of the Year’ is an unofficial title bestowed at the end of the season to the best debutant driver. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas), Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), Jenson Button (BAR-Honda), Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) are the drivers from the present lot who had won this honour in the previous decade.

Most drivers who get the best rookie title after displaying their driving prowess over the first year are picked up by more competitive teams and eventually end up with better cars, and therefore, better results. — Agencies

HOME PAGE

Afridi at his best

Shahid Afridi deserves applause for his marvellous knock of 102 runs in the Kanpur one-day match. In fact, it was a one-man show as he hit his century in just 45 balls. Incidentally, the record for the fastest century in one-dayers stands in his name. He hit a hundred in just 37 balls against Sri Lanka.

In Kanpur, he massacred the Indian attack. His merciless assault made Indian pacers forget how to bowl.

Subhash C. Taneja, Rohtak

Ganguly’s woes

“Ganguly Gagbag” (Saturday Extra, April 9), was a humorous spoof on Sourav Ganguly’s non-performance. The jokes were not meant to belittle or disparage him but were intended to hold his poor form to ridicule in order to rouse him from his ‘slumber’.

Ganguly is woefully out of form and his performance has nose-dived in Tests as well as one-dayers. He should be made aware that he can’t take his place in the team for granted. The ‘gagbag’ was well-timed to stir him from his ‘hibernation’.

It is time for Ganguly to go as captain and concentrate on his batting. The reins of the team should be given to Sachin Tendulkar, who is heading towards the twilight of his career. He ought to be given the honour of leading his country before he retires.

Tarsem S. Bumrah, Batala

Well done, Inzy

Congratulations to the Pakistan team, particularly Inzamam-ul-Haq, for his captain’s knock in the one-dayer at Ahmedabad. The way they chased 315 runs was simply superb.

Kuku Bhalla, Ludhiana