Thursday, Dec 11, 2003
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I was led to believe that he was arrogant, sometimes rude and often aloof. What I found when I met him was at odds with that assessment of him. I found him in fact to be intelligent, passionate and respectful. His family can be proud of the strong foundation that they have provided him and the way he represents them and his country. The Sourav Ganguly that I met surprised me with the passion he has to make a difference to Indian cricket. He is aware that changes need to be made to the culture of the game in India if history is not to be repeated on overseas tours. Australia can be a hard tour for teams from the sub-continent because both the hard, bouncy wickets and the abrasive approach of their opponents are at odds with what they know at home. An adjustment in technique and attitude is required to make it home in one piece physically and psychologically. Many an Indian cricketer's career and reputation has been wrecked on the rock of an Australian tour. Ganguly is determined not to be counted in that number and is committed to showing his charges a way through the minefield of bouncers, brickbats and psychological warfare that is part and parcel of a tour down under. So far on this tour he has shown a resolve and strength of character that has only rarely been seen in leaders from the sub-continent. What Sourav achieved last weekend in Brisbane cannot be underestimated. The pressure on him as he strode to the wicket with his team on the brink and in danger of self-destructing would have suffocated a lesser being. A failure in this situation could have scuttled his tour and would have rendered him an impotent leader at best, a liability at worst. The fact that he could ignore the impending doom and gloom and fashion one of the best captain's knocks seen in this country in my memory is a credit to his talent and strength of character. Rather than go into his shell and hope to survive, he fashioned one of the great counter-attacking innings I have seen. Ganguly has been worked over with the short ball in this country before, and it was his biggest fear for this tour. He has spoken with a number of former players as he has tried to build a method that both suits his personality and the requirements of Test cricket under a variety of batting conditions. His new-look attitude and footwork were on display at the `Gabba as he drove, cut and pulled his way to a career-changing century. The statement that he made with his willow will have much wider implications than saving his team in that one innings. He is now a batsman that can make runs anywhere against any attack. His reputation will go from strength to strength from here and his average will better reflect his talent and determination. There is no reason why he can't average in the 50's in Test cricket from this point on. More importantly his captaincy will benefit from the boost in confidence this innings will bring. A more positive approach to his leadership was evident as early as the second innings of the match in Brisbane and as he grows taller with the bat so he will in the eyes of his players and those of the opposition. With one of the biggest hurdles out of the way India's chances of pulling off a surprise win in this series has improved by at least 25%. Brisbane is one wicket on which the Australian's would have expected a win. Not only did they not get the victory but also India took more positives out of the game than they did. Apart from Ganguly, Laxman and Zaheer Khan have walked away with more confidence than they started with and the Australian's know they will have a tougher opponent to deal with than they imagined. Dravid will be pleased that he received a second innings just to settle his nerves before the Adelaide Test and we know Tendulkar will make someone pay for the disappointment of Brisbane. Agarkar also showed that if he bowls with his head rather than brawn he could do a job for his team. The third seam bowling position and the spin bowling situation will not be as easily resolved and will cause the tour selectors some anxious moments before they settle on a final eleven for the second Test. With the home team's bowling stocks depleted without McGrath, Lee and Warne we are getting a glimpse of what the future may hold for Australia. It will not be as rosy as we have witnessed in recent times. This series is going to be a battle of two strong batting teams against modest bowling. We should see a lot of runs scored by both sides in the remaining three Tests. Conditions in Adelaide and Sydney will suit India as much as Australia while Melbourne is more of an imponderable with its drop-in wicket offering the bowlers more bounce than the other two. If India holds its nerve and follows the lead her captain showed in Brisbane, an improbable victory in the series is still a possibility.
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