Captain in control

Sujata Prakash

Around Christmas, Anshuman Gaekwad had had enough of waiting for Santa to bring him back what he had lost -- being in the news -- so he decided to help himself by ranting against Sourav Ganguly. It's pretty strange that it has just struck him to tell the world how stubborn Ganguly had become after captaincy.

On the other hand it's not hard to understand why he feels the compulsion to talk like this. The Indian captain has been profusive in his praise for the new Kiwi coach. Why, he sounds almost grateful at times. Does anyone remember Ganguly saying such positive things about the former coach? Did he ever, post match, comment what a wonderful job AG was doing in instilling good cricketing skills in the players? Nope, I can't recall any such moment. Perhaps because the captain didn't think much of the cricketing skills being passed down from the coach.

If I were AG I would think twice before making such sour grapes statements. Right now, the hero of the hour is very much Sourav Ganguly. Is he stubborn? Who cares, if his decisions turn out to be more right than wrong. Is he arrogant? More power to him, if campaigning for bowler friendly pitches is arrogance.

The truth is there is no one else who deserves to be the captain as much as he does. He's competitive, outspoken, intelligent and willing to learn from his mistakes. Most importantly, unlike Sachin, captaincy brings out the best in him. Look at these ODI statistics. In the year 2000, Ganguly made 7 centuries and had an average of 56 as compared to Sachin's 3 centuries and an average of 39. Howzzat?

If this sounds like a Ganguly promo, it is, in a way. He's always been able to garner attention on the crease, but on my just concluded trip to India, I met a very special fan of his, which prompted me to write all this. In Bangalore, I read about a 10-year-old boy who had touched a dangling live wire and damaged his arms so much that both had to be amputated. I went to meet him at the hospital, just to tell him that he has one more friend if he needs one. Jayant was, quite naturally, very incommunicado. After a few minutes of complete silence from his part, I desperately asked him if he liked cricket.

That did the trick. He turned towards me at last and gave me his attention. He began to talk, in monosyllables mostly. So, who's your favourite? I asked. Pat came the reply, Ganguly. I asked him if he thought Ganguly was a nice guy. Yes, he nodded vigorously, a VERY nice guy. Well, I said, maybe one day you can meet him, and tell him that. Jayant smiled for the first time, looking wonderstruck at the idea, and at that moment he seemed to have forgotten that he would never be able to play the game he loved anymore. Too choked to stay there any longer, I asked him if he had a message for the captain. He thought a bit, and whispered, 'Good luck.'

I don't know if Ganguly will read this, but I've passed the message on. With the Australians coming, some more luck added to his balance can't hurt. He'll need every bit of it if, as he says, he wants to return the favour to the Aussies. And one day, I hope he gets to meet a boy who dreams of shaking his hand.