Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni - Saga of a Creator and a Finisher

Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni – two pillars of Indian cricket

Travel into the 90s, the page of Indian cricket was still under construction. We were those set of good boys who were there to participate.The curve was perfectly sinusoidal. We were not someone who the world could rate as the dominators. Playing abroad was a challenge, it still is (pun intended).

It would not be wrong to state in simple sober words that we were certainly not up to speed with the game. This was the period when the game had started to add flaring parameters like aggression, sledging and the other flamboyant factors.

The match-fixing scandal had already broken the hearts of many across the cricketing fraternity. We had lost a capable leader like Azharuddin. Sachin Tendulkar was the best bet to take up the captaincy, but he chose not to. It would have been a tough decision to hand it over to the thin, squeaky, unruffled, young Sourav Ganguly.

The irony is that Sachin once again refused to lead and referred MS Dhoni’s name as the captain of the Indian cricket team when the time came half-a-decade later. But both these moves have paid off. From the early years of the millennium to 2015, there have been two eras of Indian cricket – the Sourav Ganguly era and the MS Dhoni era. Logic would say Indian cricket has bolstered in both these eras.

A juvenile debate

Sourav provided the launchpad and Dhoni taught Indian cricket how to launch into the orbit. Tempers flare up when the thought process of the Dada fans and the Dhoni fans clash. Each new day sees a debate. Each side dives into the oblivion and brings out reasons to prove who is the better among the two. It is silly, it is indeed.

Being a fan is one bit, but pestering for the greatest among these two legends is something not called for. This might sound like old school but it is indeed stupid.

Ganguly is known to be someone who has provided a platform for Indian cricket. It doesn’t mean that Dhoni is someone who has survived on “Ready to Eat Meals”. Ganguly has been instrumental in building the side. He has taught the Indian team to believe that they can do it in any situation, in any condition. Dada is someone who has led the side, citing an example to world cricket, by keeping an eye to eye contact with the opponent.

He has made the world believe that the Indian cricket team is not there just to participate. On the other hand, MSD has extracted the best out of his players and showed them how to excel and come out with flying colors on the bigger stage. No other captain in world cricket has mastered the art of going into the last stage in every major tournament and in fact winning some of them.

Enigmas around which India’s most fruitful periods have been based

Dhoni is said to have always been blessed with established players. It is quite silly, Dada had the younger version of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and the deadly duo of spin twins – Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Dada did give a chance to a lot of youngsters. He had to; the team was in the building phase. Dhoni has seen different phases of Indian cricket. It is tough to lead a side with seniors in the dressing room. It required clinical brevity to do away with a guy like Sehwag, it really does. But every single time this guy has taken decisions which have been fruitful for Indian cricket. We have to accept that Sehwag has given India all he could have and has not been in the best of forms.

Even Kapil Dev was a class act, doesn’t mean he can come back and contribute to Indian cricket.

Another area where the Indian team found a new strength under Dada was fielding. We had that soggy bunch of lazy gentlemen who would never care to put in a dive or move with much enthusiasm on the field. Dada had ushered in the belief that victory shall remain a dream if fielding lacks luster. On the other hand, Dhoni is known to thrive on field placements. The famous leg slip does seem unconventional, but has paid off most of the times.

So to be precise, it certainly doesn’t make sense to compare the two. They have been the honest warriors of Indian cricket. They have been there for such a long time that it is quite easy to chip in with arguments – both for and against. But in the end they both have been enigmas – enigmas around which the most fruitful period of Indian cricket have been based.