The Hindu : Sport : Avoidable controversy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005

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Avoidable controversy

Greg Chappell will not be a clone of John Wright in his methods and as such the established players need to be balanced in their outlook

W.V.Raman

The last week has been eventful as a result of inflammatory statements coming from the centurions V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, which have put the victory against Zimbabwe on the back burner. As expected the Indians made light work of the hosts with young Pathan walking away with the Man-of-the-match award.

It was a no-win situation for the Indians as they were expected to win and unfortunately any landmarks will not earn accolades. However, the Indians won the match easily by playing in earnest giving a Test its due respect and without giving Zimbabwe a semblance of a chance.

The Indian batsmen made their presence felt with almost every top order batsman putting runs on the board, though only Laxman and Ganguly managed to reach the three-figure mark.

Touch of class

The stylish Laxman played a mixed innings, in that he looked like one who was bent on getting a century at the expense of the usual fluency that one associates with him.

There was a touch of class during the latter part of his innings but my impression was that he appeared to be playing under a lot of pressure to retain his place in the side. If his scratching away and his apparent insecurity raised a few eyebrows, his breaking his reticence in the press conference came as a real shock.

His statements confirmed his insecure demeanour at the crease but talking about the indifferent treatment meted out to him by the selectors was ill timed. The point is not about the veracity of his statements but Laxman could have chosen a more appropriate time to give vent to his feelings.

Ganguly emulated Laxman in not only completing his century but in sparking off yet another issue by revealing a private conversation to the press. It can be upsetting for an acclaimed performer like Ganguly who also happens to be an emotional person but his experience should have enabled him to put the lid on the issue.

Captain's obligation

Moreover, it is his obligation as a captain to try and resolve issues rather than create them. Whether the person who asked Ganguly to stand down had the authority is debatable but it is rather unseemly for a captain to be the one to wash dirty linen in public. Ganguly's achievements as a captain and as batsman are public knowledge but there is no escaping the fact that he has been more focussed on retaining his captaincy than being focussed as a captain in recent times.

Now that it is evident that the atmosphere in the dressing room is unhealthy, it is imperative that the entire outfit thrash out the issues and ensure that press statements are issued on a need to know basis.

Team India needs to concede that Greg Chappell will not be a clone of John Wright in his methods and as such the established players need to be balanced in their outlook. Ganguly needs to realise that his chances of retaining the captaincy are greater if he fosters harmony and rekindles the spirit that brought about his success.

Moreover, every cricketer has been criticised some time or the other regardless of their achievements.

The best way for Ganguly to win over his critics is to get on with his job and produce results without resorting to emotional outbursts. After all, Ganguly has raised the level of Team India and this being a pivotal stage he has to handle his team with care. It will be a pity if his actions, however inadvertent they may be, were to cause setback for his team.

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