Indian cricket has been blessed with Princes and Maharajahs ever since its inception. We have had Royals like Ranjitsinghji, the Maharajah of Vijinagram , Duleepsinghji don the sport and make it richer. But indisputably Indian cricket's Greatest Maharajah has been the man who is so aptly nicknamed" Maharaj"- Sourav Chandidas Ganguly. He started like a prince, ruled like a king and left the game like an emperor. The story of cricketers from Bengal being given a rude awakening by the controllers of cricket in the country has been a historically continual process. It started with Shute Banerjee and Putu Chowdhury and has continued till Sourav Ganguly. But defying all odds, the Tiger of Behala has stood like a Prince among the ruins of his predecessors to become arguably his country's finest captain.
If we travel down memory lane to Sourav's international career, it presents an interesting case study. His first international tour consisted of just a single One dayer against the West Indies and was highlighted by his "Maharaj" like act of not carrying out the duties properly as a twelfth man. He was deemed an egoistic cricketer and was left to rot in the wilderness for more than 4 years. It was on the England tour of 96 that this talented southpaw got his chance to present himself on the International scene. Destiny had to play an important role as The Shakespeare of Patiala, Navjot Singh Sidhu left the tour in between and Sanjay Manjrekar suffered an injury. As a result Sourav got his much awaited entry at Lords. The rest as they say is history.
Very few sportsmen have had to fight against the odds so frequently as has Sourav done throughout his career. It is unfortunate that India does not know how to honour its sporting heroes. If I were to write on this aspect, a whole book would even prove to be less. Once Sourav launched himself with that twin centuries on that England Tour, he has never looked back. He developed his one day game to such a level that he even outshone Sachin Tendulkar for a prolonged period of time. For a man whom challenges provide the biggest motivation in life, he took up captaincy at a time when Indian cricket was in complete turmoil- passing through its darkest phase. The match fixing controversy had rocked the nation and Sachin Tendulkar had stepped down from his position. At a time when the country needed a brave heart and a strong mind to pull itself from the deep cesspit that it had dragged itself in, Sourav became the team's messiah. A team which had hardly won away started winning regularly - both home and away. India became TEAM INDIA. A team spirit that was hardly ever seen in the Indian team became the mantra of its success. A nation which was deeply in crisis had found an able leader to take it to the shores of glory. India under Ganguly was a different knit altogether- a belief that we can win was seen among all its members. The Natwest victory started a run of wins which took Team India to the Zenith of One Day Cricket-The world cup final. Beating Australia in Australia, Pakistan in Pakistan , England in England . Sourav Ganguly had broken many jinxes. Indian cricket literaly took a rebirth. The hearts that had stopped beating after the match fixing controversy once again beat in unison during a tense match. India had once again announced itself in the big league.
Sourav Ganguly during his leadership was lucky to have worked under one of the finest coaches to have led India- John Wright. The former Kiwi Captain assumed the role of a mentor and a coach so methodically that he gave breathing space to all members of the team. The captain was given the freedom to implement his ideas and the team was allowed to revolve around him. But after 5 hectic and demanding years in India, family took precedence over work and the man from New Zealand returned to his native place. With him he also took away the fortunes of his captain.
Greg Chappel - the man who replaced Wright was seen as a master tactician who could work wonders with the team. But actually things took a turn for the worse. Chappel was instrumental in the ouster of Ganguly not only from the Captaincy but also from the team. Suddenly every other person in the country became a cricketing pundit- Sourav cannot face the rising ball, Sourav cannot field , Sourav cannot run. A man who just some time ago was the country's best captain and one of its premier batsman was now made to look like a novice. As a sports fan it was sad to see one of India's greatest sporting heroes being meted out such step motherly treatment by his own "Family" members. Age was used as an instrument against him. But fighting against all barriers , Dada proved what he was made of when he made a fairy tale comeback in South Africa . The unity which was the USP of the team had completely disintegrated and it culminated in India being eliminated in the first round of the 2007 World Cup. Thus left Greg Chappel who was responsible for waning the morale of the team and more importantly ruining the talent of one of India's most promising talent with the ball- Irfan Pathan.
It is a very arduous task to build a team. Sourav Ganguly had done this practically on his own. The current Indian team under MS Dhoni is just a continuation of that team under Ganguly which had brought confidence amongst the players. Sehwag, Zaheer and Yuvraj were given space at a time when very few conservative captains would have dared to give them a place a team. Sourav was a cricketer who played cricket at his own pace and by his own rules. It is sad that a cricketer of such magnanimous proportions has had to prove himself time and again to his countrymen. People became sceptic that Sourav would not be effective in the IPL. Unbelievable comment- No one since Brian Lara has cleared the ropes so consistently in both One Dayers and Test Cricket as Sourav Ganguly has done. One of World Cricket's finest ever One day batsmen ever, Ganguly has been unfortunate to be at the receiving end of such blasphemous statements. The innings that he played in the last match of last years IPL was lesson in batting for any young aspirant of the game.
As this year's IPL commences, it is a matter of debate whether India's greatest southpaw will be able to cope up against his younger and fitter colleagues. His fans would be praying for their DADA to continue to rule their hearts with his performances. It would be a privilege for all of us to watch this great son of Indian Cricket lead his side in the IPL - we hope his DADAGIRI stays on for some more time
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