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Sourav Ganguly is a much-villified, much-misunderstood yet much-loved cricketer who had to prove himself at every step to retain his place in the Indian team. His dignified persona off the field, and his reluctance to speak out of turn, was taken as a weakness by a coterie in the cricket establishment. He never clarified observations about him by a section of the media, particularly the electronic media, that quoted him out of contest. Sourav Ganguly — the Maharaja of Cricket attempts to put the achievements of India’s most successful cricket captain in perspective. The book also clears some of the charges levelled against him. It is not a biography because a lot many things have been left untouched — like his relations with former coaches John Wright and Greg Chappell, his bitter spat with former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmia, who was also the Secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, the match-fixing scandal, etc. This coffee-table book, with eye-catching photographs, has been well-crafted by seasoned sports journalist Debasish Dutta. As a ringside viewer of the game for over two decades, the writer has been privy to many things that happened to Sourav. The book dwells at length on the many heart-breaking moments he weathered stoically. The author has named those who put a spoke in Sourav’s cricket career. Impartial observers of
the game have admired his elegant off-side stroke play and his
man-management skills. One of Sourav’s admirers has been Geoff
Boycott, though back home, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar and present
coach Ravi Shastri too encouraged him, particularly in his second
coming.
He gave unstinted support to and groomed youngsters like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh. Even Rahul Dravid is indebted to Sourav for being part of the ODI (One-Day International) team without a break. Sourav could motivate his players for the larger good of the team. He made a success of the seventh slot in batting by putting Mohammed Kaif there, and what a knock he played in the NatWest Trophy final to help India beat England and lift the coveted cup. It was Sourav, as captain, who made Sachin bat at the No 4 slot from his established opener’s slot as he felt that India needed a solid batsman of Sachin’s calibre to fortify the middle-order. "I saw that zeal among the players when the Indians were led by the Prince of Kolkata", notes Boycott in the foreword. "He’s a natural leader of men who led by instinct", adds the former England player, elaborating that "I have never seen a better timer of the ball than Sourav". Considered a demi-god in his home state because after Pankaj Roy it was Sourav who made it big in international cricket from Bengal. The media always overplayed "negative" aspects like his "refusal" to carry drinks during his first tour of Australia; that Kapil Dev had to once carry Sourav’s kit bag from the hotel lobby to the team bus; that Steve Waugh was made to wait for the toss by Sourav at Eden Gardens; etc. etc. This was put out without getting his version. The book has got Sourav’s response to all these allegations. Despite the effort to minimise his achievements, nobody can ignore his excellent track record — his century on debut at Lord’s, his NatWest Trophy triumph, his series wins in Pakistan and the runners-up finish in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, his 10,000 runs, including 22 centuries in ODIs, his 30 Man of the Match awards in Tests... "Along the way, he has been fined, censured and suspended but he couldn’t care less, for he has always played the game on his own terms", observes the author. "Under Sourav Ganguly, India has won no fewer than 11 Tests abroad. Not much by any standards, but when you consider the fact that they had only 13 away Test victories to their credit earlier (despite playing Test cricket for over 70 years after making their debut in 1932), it is a commendable achievement in five years. Now, if you think Indians won only in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe under Sourav you are wrong. Sourav’s first away victory was against Bangladesh and the last against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, but let’s not forget that in between, India had won in England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan, too. This is something an Indian team had never done before", says Boycott. This sums up the achievements of the Maharaja of Indian cricket, who taught Indian players to dream big. Sourav made his
first-class debut against Delhi in the final of the Ranji Trophy in
1989-90 at the age of 16, got selected for the 1991-92 Tri-Series in
Australia, then spent four years in the wilderness before being recalled
for the tour of England in 1996 as the "fifth pacer" and made
his Test debut at Lord’s when Navjot Singh Sidhu walked out of the
team due to his differences with skipper Mohd. Azharuddin, following
India’s tame defeat in the first Test.
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