Under-Estimated Sourav Ganguly
Mr. Saurav Ganguly, I am impressed.
I have always liked Saurav Ganguly as a cricketer but yesterday's talk of his with Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle took me by complete surprise. The kind of maturity as well as honesty he showed in answering all the (trciky) questions posed to him was unexpected from a cricketing person, much less from Sourav, who is known for arrogant and, sometimes, rude behaviour. Atleast in recent times, he was looking very weak and vulnerable as if going through a frustrating period. But he was gracious enough to accept all the criticism of the past 6 months and looked every bit in peace with himself. One would believe him when he said that captaincy is not at all an issue for him and he wouldn't mind one little bit if he were not to captain the next test match. Atleast i believed.
He even joked that he was hoping that it was not the end of his career, when presented with a plaque commemorating his 48th test cap as the captain of the indian test squad, highest by an indian. It was saddening to hear that since the time his captaincy was questioned, all is not going well in the dressing room and that is affecting the team's performance. But it was heartening to see Saurav prompting everyone to keep their differences with themselves and show some maturity to hold the game of cricket above anything else. He supported every young indian cricketer when they first came to the international scene and when some of those same players are not supporting him in his crisis, atleast he is not complaining. He may not captain the team in the next series but he atleast should be bid adeu with some respect as none of the past captains can compete with his success as a captain, and i doubt how many to come in the future can hold their own in front of him.
Whatever may be his achievements in winning matches as a cricketer or as a captain, his contributions in building the team and a team spirit and a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room will make me remember him as one of the best ever cricketer in indian cricketing history.
I have always liked Saurav Ganguly as a cricketer but yesterday's talk of his with Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle took me by complete surprise. The kind of maturity as well as honesty he showed in answering all the (trciky) questions posed to him was unexpected from a cricketing person, much less from Sourav, who is known for arrogant and, sometimes, rude behaviour. Atleast in recent times, he was looking very weak and vulnerable as if going through a frustrating period. But he was gracious enough to accept all the criticism of the past 6 months and looked every bit in peace with himself. One would believe him when he said that captaincy is not at all an issue for him and he wouldn't mind one little bit if he were not to captain the next test match. Atleast i believed.
He even joked that he was hoping that it was not the end of his career, when presented with a plaque commemorating his 48th test cap as the captain of the indian test squad, highest by an indian. It was saddening to hear that since the time his captaincy was questioned, all is not going well in the dressing room and that is affecting the team's performance. But it was heartening to see Saurav prompting everyone to keep their differences with themselves and show some maturity to hold the game of cricket above anything else. He supported every young indian cricketer when they first came to the international scene and when some of those same players are not supporting him in his crisis, atleast he is not complaining. He may not captain the team in the next series but he atleast should be bid adeu with some respect as none of the past captains can compete with his success as a captain, and i doubt how many to come in the future can hold their own in front of him.
Whatever may be his achievements in winning matches as a cricketer or as a captain, his contributions in building the team and a team spirit and a terrific atmosphere in the dressing room will make me remember him as one of the best ever cricketer in indian cricketing history.
posted by sami at 9/16/2005 01:28:00 PM
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