A test within a Test

Spare a thought for Saurav Ganguly. Nothing has gone right for him from the moment Steve Waugh won the toss in Mumbai and invited the Indians to bat first. Call it ascending stars or whatever, but right now Waugh could make the team physio come in as pinch hitter and make it work.

Contrast that with Ganguly having a batting line up which struggles to reach 200, his own lack of match practice and one of the weakest opening combinations in any team.

And now comes Ganguly's biggest test as captain. His homework for today reads like this: History: Stop the Australians from breaking a 30 year old record. English: Use words that will infuse the players with confidence and enthusiasm. Maths: Put up a big score and do it by adding those singles. Physics: Defy the law of gravity and hold every catch. Chemistry: Smile, look cool and do away with the glares.

It won't be easy to follow all that and go for a win but the captain has inspiration if he needs it from three of his counterparts in the subcontinent. Steve Waugh will surely go down in history as one of the few men who knew the magic of belief. Give him any player and he'll impregnate him with the same belief. No wonder he has a team who swears undying loyalty to him.

Nasser Hussain might not be considered in the same league as Waugh but his presence is no less important for the English team. His stoic determination to stay at the crease (when umpires let him) and to make his team into fighters led him to beat Pakistan at home - never an easy feat. Now he has England dreaming of bringing the ashes home this summer. Truly a man who is proving that flamboyance takes a back seat to hard work.

Sanath Jayasurya is a simple man and as captain believes that all players are equal. When he took over from Arjuna Ranatunga the team was split into camps and it was left to him to bring cohesiveness into the side. It would be unlikely to find him staying at a five star hotel while the rest camped out in lesser quarters. As a player he prefers to let the bat and ball talk more than his mouth - as when he led his team to memorable victories against Australia and Pakistan last year.

So there we have it, just some of the qualities needed to affix 'great' to captain, which Ganguly has made no secret of wanting for himself. Belief. Determination. Egalitarianism. And most importantly, beating the top teams that count.

While all his problems cannot vanish in a day, the truth is that today is the day he will somehow have to surmount them. For too long have the Indians been losing today and leaving the wins for tomorrow. But there will not be any tomorrows for Ganguly if his bat does not find the rhythm today and delivers the captains knock that is so desperately needed.

True heroes take it upon themselves to shoulder the maximum load on their shoulders. Ganguly has it in him to be one. Today, in front of his adoring, maniacal, home crowd. If he comes through, he will have deserved every bit of the title 'Maharajah.'