The Hindu : Sport : ‘A good Indian captain has to be thick-skinned’

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‘A good Indian captain has to be thick-skinned’

Vijay Lokapally

Laxman’s innings at Eden Gardens made us believe we could beat any team in the world: Ganguly

NEW DELHI: In sharp contrast to his farewell at Nagpur last month, this was a quiet and unsung departure for Sourav Ganguly from the cricket field a few days ago. This one was final though. “You’ll never see me in whites,” he mumbled.

No trace of emotions as Ganguly walked away from cricket with a farewell first-class innings that was priceless for Bengal. Far away, in Mohali, the Indian team, which he once led with unprecedented success and authority, was engaged in a tense contest with England.

Ganguly had his feet firmly planted at the nondescript Karnail Singh Stadium in the capital but his mind was in Mohali.

Delighted for Dravid

When Rahul Dravid reached his fifty, Ganguly was relieved; and mighty delighted when Dravid scaled the century mark. A captain was reliving his past, only this time he was not around to pat his “dear friend” in the dressing room.

This was a different Ganguly, sans emotion. He was at peace with himself, pampering himself with a burger and chips. “Fitness can wait.”

Never the one to flaunt agility, he was now “enjoying” the “freedom” that allowed him to do what he always wanted — be Sourav Ganguly, a simple, but often misunderstood, cricketer.

It was said he had a clout that no India captain ever had. “That’s a fallacy,” he asserts. “Complete fallacy. I stood firm with certain players because I was the one to see them the closest — at nets, ground, dressing room, hotel room. I did put my foot down. Like taking Anil (Kumble) to Australia (2003-04) when the selectors preferred a left-arm spinner (Murali Kartik). A captain may not have a vote in selection but he certainly should have a say.”

Troubled times

When Ganguly assumed the responsibility in 2000, international cricket was reeling under the match-fixing scandal. India was not an exception. “Indian cricket was going through a lot of situations and we had to build a team from there. We had to pick a lot of new faces. I was worried if the boys would be able to handle the pressure. I knew I had to build a team and that’s why I sought the support of former players and the press.”

Ganguly was known to put his foot down; like backing Harbhajan Singh in 2001. The off-spinner never fails to acknowledge the support. Left to the selectors, Virender Sehwag would have been playing the Hong Kong Sixes but for Ganguly.

“I backed Viru for that South Africa tour (2001). There were important people who actually said Sehwag had no clue about fast bowling. They (fast bowlers) would clean him up. The selectors said Viru should be sent to Hong Kong Sixes. Look where Sehwag is today.”

Wrong conception

Yes, we all know where Sehwag is today. But what about Kartik? “Again a wrong conception that I did not like him because I was good against left-arm spinners. I just couldn’t have played him ahead of Kumble or Harbhajan. I had to pick two of the best spinners and they happened to be Kumble and Harbhajan. Why, Kartik was not picked even when I was not the captain. He never got to play consistently. When either Kumble or Harbhajan was not available, Kartik got to play.”

There were other instances when Ganguly backed his players. In one instance Dravid was not even in the scheme of things when the selectors met to pick a one-day team. Ganguly stood firm and the meeting ended with Dravid as the vice-captain.

“That was my job. Look how Dravid backed Sehwag to the hilt. It is no secret.” Well, Ganguly took some crucial decisions like asking Dravid to keep the wickets, or asking Sehwag to open the innings.

One crucial decision that Ganguly had no hand in was asking V.V.S. Laxman to bat at No. 3 in that epic 2001 Test at Kolkata against Australia. “That innings changed our team. VVS really changed the attitude of that team. That innings made us believe that we could beat any team in the world.”

Secret of success

Ganguly is credited, and rightly too, with transforming the way Indians played overseas. He blushes when he says, “Well, we won when I wasn’t the captain. The difference was we started winning overseas more consistently and that was because of the quality of players we had. We had players like Sachin (Tendulkar), Dravid, Kumble, Sehwag, Laxman, myself playing at their peak. We were almost the same age and keen to change the impression that India was soft when playing overseas. We played with aggression and it came with the foreign coach (John Wright). He played a big role, a very big role.”

So, how was Ganguly different as a captain? “What can I say? From personal experience, I knew the pressure that playing for India creates. It is hard to deliver always. I told the players to forget the pressure and not worry about their place in the XI. Just go and perform with the backing of the team. It was not just my backing that mattered. Let me say this for the all times to come that the captain is as good as the team. A captain has to create the right atmosphere to perform. It is important to pick the right player and allow them to perform freely.”

New aspects

Even as Ganguly grew in stature as leader of men, he discovered new aspects of captaincy. “Time management became very crucial for me. A captain has to give time to his team. It will grow tougher and tougher now. I had decided early not to worry about what people say. I had to do what I thought and not what others thought. To be a good captain in India, you have to be thick-skinned. That is why (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni is a good captain.”

As he packs his kit and looks forward to a life away from active cricket — running his family’s printing business, attending to his coaching academy and opening an educational institute — one is tempted to ask Ganguly his favourite moment. “My first Test hundred (Lord’s, 1996). If I had not got runs that day, you wouldn’t have been talking to me today”

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