The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Ganguly's return gives the team experience and flexibility

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Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005

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Ganguly's return gives the team experience and flexibility

S. Ram Mahesh

DAMBULLA: There have been few better barometers of Indian cricket in the last five years than Sourav Ganguly. Whether bespectacled and introspective or baring his chest a little too literally, Ganguly's and India's fortunes have been intertwined.

But no one is indispensable. Not even the man who led India to a World Cup final, its first Test series win in Pakistan and a drawn Test series in Australia. So, when Ganguly returns to action in the Indian Oil Cup tri-series on Wednesday against Sri Lanka — earlier than expected after a six-match ban was whittled down to four — it won't be as captain.

It may not even be as opener. "We will see on the day of the game, I'm not going to be giving out my secrets here, but Sourav has had a lot of success in that position. Everyone knows that, everyone knows what his record is, so I don't need to state that," said Indian skipper Rahul Dravid when asked if Ganguly would open. He, however, reserved the twist for later: "That is definitely a very big option. But, like I've shown, there could be some surprises."

Ganguly's return gives the Indian batting order the experience it lacks and Dravid the flexibility he desires. Dravid can choose between the Kolkatan's ability to bat through an innings, shaping its texture and momentum, and his facility to start an innings against spin, short-circuiting the middle-innings lull. And his pesky medium pace will cling to the low Sri Lankan pitches.

How the Ganguly thread weaves itself back into the changing fabric of the Indian team will be fascinating. "I have played under other captains, so it should be no problem," said the former captain, who played county cricket for Glamorgan this season. "I am happy to play anywhere, whatever suits the team, Rahul and Greg (Chappell)."

Recovering from a poor last season, India is experimenting to find a combination that will clink into place like the tumblers of a safe and take them to the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Ganguly will be 35 then, battling both the fickleness of form and the ravages of age. Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid and spring chicken won't be used in the same sentence either. The team will need to find the right balance between the wisdom of old heads to keep it steady in a crisis and the recalcitrance of youth to dare something experience frowns upon.

Will the scales then even out in Ganguly's favour? Consider the facts: the graceful left-hander is 33 short of 10,000 ODI runs and 51 short of 5000 Test runs — only the very special accumulate 15,000 international runs; his 22 ODI centuries are second only to Tendulkar; India under him had an eight-match winning streak in the 2003 World Cup and was beaten only by Australia.

Still has a role to play

Ganguly, at least in the instant format, has a role to play. While the quicker bowlers can handcuff him in Tests, aiming between his heart and his right trouser pocket, Ganguly usually picks the lock in the limited-overs version by stepping outside the line and smearing it over the covers.

The questions of captaincy and his Test spot are trickier. The prematurely greying Bengali still averages a very decent 40 in Tests, but this figure was once over 50. And while Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman have understandably higher averages in Tests than in ODIs, Ganguly's ODI average is a smidgeon more than his Test average.

The Kolkatan's captaincy bristled with aggression and he displayed a refreshing lack of the parochialism that had mired Indian cricket. Dravid's two half centuries and tactical nous have drawn high praise. If he lifts the trophy on August 9 (or August 10 if it rains) the selectors will find it hard to strip him of the captaincy.

Whether this throws up a situation of different Test and ODI captains and a gradual shunting out of one of them as the Australians did with Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh remains deliciously suspended in the realms of conjecture.

Ganguly, meanwhile, is enjoying his time out of the spotlight: "Actually, I don't mind (the lack of attention). I had a lot of attention for five years. If for the next three or four games, or whatever happens in this series (and I am not captain), I am not too worried.

"Whatever will happen, will happen."

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