Sourav Ganguly - Beyond the statistics

Sourav Ganguly is a man who needs no introduction to the cricket fraternity, especially the one in India. A country obsessed with Sachin Tendulkar found a new hero in Sourav Ganguly, fondly called “Dada” by his team mates and fans, who became one of the greatest One Day International batsmen in the world, and a decent test batsman as well.

Few call him the ‘God of the off-side’, a few others call him ‘controversy’s first child’, some call him the ‘master of mind games’, and others call him the ‘arrogant and spoilt child of Indian cricket‘. Yet, to every one he is Sourav Ganguly, who fought against all odds, and made the cricket administration dance to his tunes. Its not fair to write a article on Dada and not mention Kolkata, where he is a darling of the masses, and is idolised as a demi-god by many.

Dada made his ODI debut in the year 1992 on India’s tour to Australia, where he played just one match, and later scripted a glorious comeback on his test debut in the year 1996. With his trademark cover-drives and square cuts he hammered the English bowlers, and brought up his maiden test ton during that match. Co-incidentally, another stalwart of Indian cricket Rahul Dravid made his debut in the same match as well, which was the start of a new era in Indian cricket.

His 18,575 international runs and 132 wickets are enough to include him in any list of the modern day greats. Glossing over his amazing statistics is not new, so here we will take a look at the qualities of Dada that made him a stand out from rest:

Dada took up the captaincy of the Indian team with a brave heart when the team was facing a match-fixing debacle ,and no one was willing to lead the side, and helped the Indian team develop from mediocre side to a champion side. Captaincy is not all about winning games, but is more to do with how you approach a game and manage the team. Dada was the best at that. The true greatness of any leader is measured when they demonstrate strong leadership under stress and get the team out of the bad phase. Ganguly did it and built a strong team with his immense self-belief.

Dada was a man who considered the Indian cricket team as a part of his family. He is an epitome of selflessness, and someone who placed firm faith in his team. He also had a ‘never say die’ attitude which impacted on Indian cricket team in a big way. Dada was just not a leader, he was an inspiration, a motivation, and an aspiration to young players. Respect cannot be bought, it should be earned, and Dada earned it because of his selflessness and his non-biased support to every deserving player. Players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag were lucky to play under Dada. Once, in 2000, when Sehwag was asked to open in an innings, the player was nervous. Dada promised him that he would not be dropped for next 30 games, instilling belief in the batsman. That was how Dada used to motivate his players, which is why Yuvraj once said: “I can die for a captain like Dada.”

If Sachin Tendulkar is a champion, Rahul Dravid dependable, Anil Kumble a fighter, and VVS Laxman the craftsman, then Ganguly was the inspiration.

A captain is as good as his team. Successful teams makes successful captains. Having said that, Dada brought a killer instinct to the Indian cricket team. We were not more than just a touring party abroad, but Dada’s aggressive leadership gave that punch to deliver goods when the team went overseas. As an Indian fan, I can never forget the Natwest Series final at Lords, as Ganguly’s shirt waving stays on in memory. The incident might have been objected to by critics, but we, as fans supported him completely as we were able to pull of a miracle on that memorable day.

Former Aussie captain Steve Waugh rightly said about Dada: “He’s the type of bloke you would want to have on your side. When you see an Indian side with Ganguly in the line-up, you know it’s game on. You don’t have to like or dislike him. You have to respect him”.

Like every other cricketer, Dada too had a lean patch in his career in the year 2005. Things got even worse, as he had some issues with the then-coach Greg Chappell, eventually costing him his place in Indian team. This was clearly the darkest phase of his otherwise successful career, both as a batsman and captain. But still, the impact of the man was such that the issue with his coach became the talk of the country, and Sourav Ganguly was the most discussed topic from a hair salon to the Parliament. If Facebook or Twitter were as active then as they are now, I am sure it would have broken many records on the Internet.

But this man was not over yet. He made a blazing comeback and performed exceedingly well. He is one of the few Indian greats who ended their career on a high note. Dada not only announced his arrival with a glorious ton in his first test at Lords, but also ended his career with another sparkling 88 in his final test against the mighty Aussies.

Sourav Ganguly is just not statistics, but the spirit he created on the field as well. He may not have been the best batsman or the best captain, but he was the one who brought out the best in you.