Ganguly's fairytale

December 9, 2007

The most noticeable feature of Sourav Ganguly's batting since his return to international cricket has been his poise

If you're looking for a clue to what has helped Sourav Ganguly sustain his spectacular run in Test cricket since his return at the fag end of last year, don't bother looking at his footwork or the flow of his bat. Take, instead, a close look at his eyes while he is batting. They speak of a calmness that borders on serenity, and a combination of composure and resolve. You could see it in his comeback innings in Johannesburg, which fetched him an unbeaten 51, and you could see it through his epic innings in Bangalore that marked a new high in his career.

In his bowling, and on the field, we have seen the more familiar Ganguly; excitable, emotional, even fiery. He has appealed cantankerously and celebrated his wickets and catches with child-like gusto. His batting hasn't lacked his natural flair - in fact, he has been batting with greater freedom than he did in the period leading up to his temporary banishment - but the most noticeable feature about his cricket has been his poise. It hasn't left him even after he has occasionally been cornered into an awkward position by a short ball.

He has let himself go only once: it was an emotional moment, getting to his first hundred before his adoring home fans. But his celebration after he got to his first double-hundred, a landmark he sought and will cherish, was far more subdued. There was the raising of the arms and the acknowledgment of applause from his team-mates and the crowd. But then there was also a series of little pumps of the fist, and a waving of the helmet. Those were for himself. There was an air of fulfillment, of a man celebrating privately in public. His smile touched a million hearts: his struggle to regain his place, and some would say his honour, have been among the most stirring and uplifting stories in cricket.

Let's be done with the numbers first. Incredibly for a man who was given up for dead, 2007 has been his most successful year statistically. Potentially he has three innings left still, and he has already scored 932 runs at 62.13. His most prolific year to date has been 2002, when he managed 945 runs - but it took him 16 Tests back then. Put together, 2005 and 2006 yielded him only 422 runs from 11 Tests at 28.13, and that included a painstaking hundred against a hopeless Zimbabwean bowling attack.

The manner of his removal, first from captaincy and then from the team, continues to rankle with his supporters, and surely with him. But it is undeniable that from that low has emerged this high. It was perhaps a bit disingenuous for Greg Chappell to claim credit for Ganguly's revival, but in the cold light of the day, the exile, the sheer indignation of it, did make the revival possible, and ultimately far more poignant.

The credit for it must go entirely to Ganguly, for few rational observers would have seen it coming. It wasn't just that the runs had dried up; his skills, his responses, seemed to have deserted him, and he bore the look of a haunted man.

He owes his return to a change in the selection committee, but the rest of the story is about a man who simply refused to surrender to what seemed inevitable to most. Much can be said about his improved footwork and the decisiveness of his stroke-making, but in the end, it has been a triumph of spirit, of incredible strength of mind and faith.

Ganguly is living out a fairytale at the moment, and nothing he achieves will be a surprise anymore. There are many, me included, who believed Ganguly's time as an international cricketer was over. We owe him an apology and a salute

Remarkably, in a batting line-up featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, Ganguly has been India's best batsman since his return. Not merely for consistency and the number of runs scored - during the course of his double-hundred he became India's leading run--getter this year - but for the assuredness of the manner in which he has made them. His half-century in his return Test in Johannesburg, though subdued and a bit laboured, helped India to what ultimately turned out to be a match-winning first-innings total in a low-scoring Test. And in the decisive Test in Cape Town, only he looked fluent and in control in the fateful second innings; his dismissal induced a crawl that proved terminal.

In England he had a series of vital contributions, and none better than a 79 on a challenging pitch in the second Test at Trent Bridge. Apart from Zaheer Khan's inspired swing bowling, my warmest memory from that match is of Ganguly's square-driving.

Michael Vaughan set an off-side trap, with four men between cover and gully, and Ganguly teased and mocked him by caressing, punching and guiding the ball repeatedly through that cordon: one to the right of point, then one to the left, and then a couple between the two gullies. He was denied a hundred by a wrong decision, and his response to that dismissal told a story. In an earlier time he would have left kicking and stomping; here he did so with an ironic, rueful smile. The protest was registered, but without causing offence.

Admittedly his hundreds in the current series have come against feeble opponents. The pitch at Kolkata offered nothing to the bowlers, and Shoaib Akhtar was drained by illness. But at Bangalore he was not so much up against the bowlers as the match situation. He provided the calm cushion for Yuvraj Singh to flow at the other end without ever sacrificing his own strokes.

Personally, my favourite Ganguly innings of the series is a small but vital one. It came during the run-chase in the final innings of the first Test. Shoaib had just cleaned up Rahul Dravid with a ripper; India had over a hundred runs to get; and Tendulkar was finding non-existent demons in the pitch. In this banana-skin situation, typical to India, Ganguly, who had fallen cheaply in the first innings, set about cutting down the target nervelessly, with deliciously timed fours against Shoaib, Mohammad Sami, and Danish Kaneria.

The toughest challenge lies ahead. Australia will come hard at him, and the pitches will test his skills. But he is living out a fairytale at the moment, and nothing he achieves will be a surprise anymore. There are many, me included, who believed Ganguly's time as an international cricketer was over. We owe him an apology and a salute.

Ganguly's double ton propels India

Saurav remains 215* at the Drinks...with 28X4 & 1X6
India was 526 for six on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan at Bangalore on Sunday.

Resuming Day 2 at 365 for 5, India continued to pile the runs. However, Yasir Arafat picked up his fourth wicket of the match as he dismissed Dinesh Karthik for 24.

Sourav Ganguly resuming on 125 soon completed his 150 helping India cross the 400 mark in the process.

Shoaib Akhtar, who missed most of Day 1 with a back spasm is back on the field but is unlikely to bowl for Pakistan.

Earlier, Yuvraj Singh and Saurav Ganguly took Pakistan to the cleaners with centuries despite India losing early wickets as the hosts ended the Day 1 at 365 for five.

Ganguly put India on top

Ganguly put India on top

December 8, 2007

Day 1 India 365 for 5 (Yuvraj 169, Ganguly 125*, Arafat 3-98) v Pakistan
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly scored splendid centuries to rescue India from 69 for 4 © AFP

The Chinnaswamy Stadium has been witness to some exceptional batting down the years, from Sunil Gavaskar's 96 to Michael Clarke's century on debut, via Sachin Tendulkar's destruction of Shane Warne (1998). The last time India played here, Younis Khan's monumental 267 inspired a famous Pakistan triumph, but on Saturday, he could only watch ruefully as Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly stroked sublime centuries to wrest control of the final Test.

Yasir Arafat's three wickets on debut had shaken the innings to its very foundations before lunch, but from the depths of 61 for 4, Yuvraj and Ganguly constructed a magnificent run edifice. With Shoaib Akhtar off the field after lunch with back spasms, Pakistan's gamble of playing just four specialist bowlers was horribly exposed in the final two sessions.

Younis, who did his best to make sure that shoulders didn't droop too much, was left to reflect on a difficult chance that he failed to hold on to at slip when Yuvraj had made just 12. Danish Kaneria was the luckless bowler, and insult was added to injury over the course of an afternoon when the Indians cut and drove fours at will.

Yuvraj started extremely nervously, understandable given that he hadn't played a Test since the West Indies tour in 2006. A tuck off his hips from Arafat got the scoreboard ticking, but it was only when he played a glorious shot down the ground off Mohammad Sami that he began to resemble the man who has tormented Pakistan over the past few years.

Yuvraj celebrated the Younis reprieve with a gorgeous cover drive off Sami, and the complexion of the match changed as he and Ganguly began to pick off the loose deliveries with precision and ease. Sami was repeatedly creamed through the covers, while Kaneria was cut and driven for four. There was the odd scampered single too as Pakistan began to lose the plot.

A superb flick through midwicket got Yuvraj to his half-century from 75 balls, and when Younis brought himself on, Ganguly was quick to follow suit. His classy effort had taken a while longer, 92 balls, but was no less valuable in providing India a bridgehead. Even the return of Arafat failed to stem the tide. His first nine overs had cost 26, and fetched him three wickets, but the next 10 that he bowled went for 53 as the batsmen cut loose.

The decision to pick Yasir Arafat as the third seamer, ahead of Sohail Tanvir, proved inspirational as he grabbed early wickets © AFP

A cut through cover took Yuvraj to his third century, all of them against his favourite opposition. There was a jubilant leap in the air and a prolonged hug from Ganguly, followed by some more breathtaking drives. Even with four men spread out to stop the cover drive, Yuvraj still found the boundary and a huge heave for six off Kaneria brought up the 200-run partnership.

Bereft of options, Younis turned to the part-time spin of Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed, but there was no respite. Ganguly, who timed the ball immaculately, especially against Kaneria, drove Hameed through the covers to bring up his 15th Test century, and second in succession, raising his bat to acknowledge the applause from an enraptured crowd.

The partnership so demoralised Pakistan that the second new ball was taken only after 84 overs, with Younis also conscious of a dismal over-rate. Initially, it made not the slightest bit of difference, with Ganguly and Yuvraj continuing to score runs at will.

The partnership was worth exactly 300 when Sami's perseverance was rewarded with a leading edge to point. By then, Yuvraj had amassed a fabulous 203-ball 169, and left the selectors with a massive headache before the Boxing Day Test. By the time he trudged off to a standing ovation, Yuvraj had made an irresistible case to be retained for the trial by Australia pace.

It had been so very different in the morning, when Arafat savoured a debut of schoolboy-dream variety as Pakistan's quest for a hat-trick of victories here started brightly. Sohail Tanvir had done the third seamer's job in Delhi and Kolkata but the decision to draft in Arafat, who had a good county season with Kent, was an inspired one. On a pleasant, sunny day that wouldn't have been out of place in the English summer, he came on as first change after Shoaib and Sami had made lively starts.

After choking off the runs, Sami had given Pakistan the early wicket they sought. Gambhir, one of those with a point to prove, edged one behind to give Sami his first wicket of the series. Soon after, Arafat came on, and India crumbled.

He bowled at lively pace and swung the ball just enough to trouble the batsmen. Rahul Dravid had driven him beautifully through the covers twice, but when he got a little extra bounce outside off stump, the attempted cut flew off the edge to the left of first slip. Misbah-ul-Haq took a smart catch that left Dravid plenty of time to reflect on a dismal record in familiar surroundings - just one score over 50 in ten innings.

Wasim Jaffer, who started sedately before unveiling a couple of superb fours, was then guilty of an extraordinary error of judgment, padding up to one that shaped back in. That left India in disarray at 51 for 3, and it got worse on the stroke of lunch, when VVS Laxman toe-ended one on to his stumps. Then came the resurrection, as two left-hand batsmen touched by grace shone even brighter than the winter sun.

The Monarch of Indian Cricket

The Monarch of Indian Cricket

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly made his entry into this world on July 08, 1973 in Calcutta, the ‘City of Joy’, now Kolkata. He was born into a sports loving family and was the second of two sons born to Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. He was born into immense wealth, unlike many Indian cricketers, with the exception of royalty. His parents gave him the nickname of ‘Maharaj’ meaning ‘Prince’. Perhaps, they knew that their son was born to lead.

Sourav’s father, Chandidas Ganguly runs a flourishing printing business, the 3rd largest in Asia, that has helped make the Gangulys among the 5 richest in Kolkata. Even today, Dada's

father is one of the major barons in the printing business in Kolkata. His palatial, joint-family home which has nearly 30 members in the Kolkata suburb of Behala has more than 45 rooms. There is suggestion of affluence everything in the Ganaguly household, from the palatial 4-storey building itself to the beautifully decorated rooms. The annual turnover of Sourav's family is nearly 80 crores, with just a profit of 40 crores!

As a child, Sourav was extremely mischievous, a typical Cancerian one could say. His brother Snehashish (nicknamed Raj) was born five years before him and became an accomplished left handed batsman. Though Sourav is a natural right hander, he learned to bat with his left hand from his brother, Snehashish. Sourav does everything else, including writing and bowling with his right hand. Convenience was one of the reasons for Sourav to become a left-handed batsman as he could then use his brother's cricket gear.

For someone who is one of the best cricketers of contemporary times, it would come as a surprise to many of Sourav’s fans that cricket was not his first love. Like all people who dwell in the city of Kolkata, Sourav’s first sporting passion was football. But like most Indian kids, he had to make the difficult choice between academics and sport and his mother wasn’t very supportive of Sourav taking up cricket or any sport as a career. But Snehashish, who was an established cricketer for Bengal only strengthened his brother’s resolve to be a cricketer and he asked his father to get Sourav enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during Sourav's class ten holidays.

For a young man who used his brother's cricket gear during practice, it was indeed ironical that he replaced his brother in the Bengal cricket team and consequently, Snehashish was dropped. And thus, Sourav began a glorious cricketing career.

Sourav made his debut in international cricket way back in 1992 during a tour Down Under. But unfortunately, the 19-year old played in just one match against West Indies at Brisbane in which he failed to make an impression, and hence, was dropped from the side. A young Sourav had to face more than just the frustration of being dropped after one opportunity. Rumors of his attitude problems and lack of respect for the senior players hurt Sourav the most. There were also reports in certain newspapers that Sourav refused to carry drinks on the field for a senior cricketer, which he denies till date. He was given a raw deal on his first tour when some prominent cricketers tagged him to be ‘arrogant’ and a ‘

boy with no cricketing talent’. He was ignored for well over four years and many thought that his days as an international cricketer were numbered.

A few years later, however, Sourav came back strong and more determined than ever to make his mark in the world of cricket. He made his debut along with his good friend and now vice captain, Rahul Dravid in the 2nd test vs. England at Lord’s. Sourav amazed cricketers and critics alike when he smashed a century in his debut Test.

He went on to score a century in the very next innings as well. More success came his way when Sourav was named ‘man of the series’ in his Debut. Weeks after his successful tour of England, Sourav eloped with childhood sweetheart Dona Roy. All hell broke lose when the the families of Sourav and Dona heard learnt about the secret wedding. However, both families reconciled and a formal wedding was held in February 1997. Happily married, Sourav and Dona are proud parents of a girl named Sana, born in November 2001.

Sourav hasn’t looked back since his debut and today, he has many records to his name including that of the highest score in a World Cup and is the 2nd highest century getter in ODI after teammate Sachin Tendulkar. He is also referred to as 'the golden arm' in the Indian team as his gentle medium pace bowling has given India many a vital breakthrough in one-day cricket. In Test matches today, he, Rahul Dravid and the great Tendulkar form the core of the Indian batting line up.

This man is revered in his home town where he enjoys a God like status. But that is the price one has to pay for being a celebrity in India. If people in Kolkata come to know that Sourav is home, there is a huge crowd that gathers at the gate of his palatial home. As likeable as he is, Sourav also has been firm enough to let overbearing fans and prying media persons know that he deserves and needs his share of privacy. Sourav prefers a quiet evening alone with his wife rather than have photographers and lensmen chasing him all over Kolkata. Sourav is also a deeply religious person and observes a fast every Tuesday.

No one had thought that a lad ridiculed as a non talent, brushed off as being high headed, accused of showing disrespect towards seniors and having attitude problems would one day lead the Indian cricket team. Yet, Sourav Ganguly is now in the hot seat as the captain of the Indian Cricket team. Sourav was appointed as captain when Sachin Tendulkar, shocked everyone by stepping down from his captaincy after India’s disastrous tour Down Under in 1999. As vice captain to Tendulkar, Sourav was the most obvious choice.

Sourav began well as captain, leading India to a series win over South Africa in the 5 match one day series. He really

started coming into his own as the leader of the Indian Team in the ICC Knockout trophy, where he led India to the finals.

Sourav felt that every young player should play two years of domestic cricket before being selected for international assignments. He also said that every newcomer should be given at least five games to prove himself. Perhaps, he being at a receiving end of a raw deal that threatened to ruin his international cricket career enabled Sourav to understand the insecurities of other newcomers in the team better than his predecessors. Sourav backed the youngsters in the team tremendously and thus, gained the love of his teammates.

Sourav also was not shy of taking on responsibility. He showed that he can be a leader of a team, which has greats like Sachin and Dravid in the side, without any problems. Under Sourav's leadership, India got back the winning habit which the team had forgotten.

Today, Sourav Ganguly is the most successful Indian captain leaving Mohammed Azharuddin’s previous record of 14 test wins behind. Sourav has won 21 Tests as captain, of which more than 7 wins have come overseas! His success rate is an amazing 42%, the highest ever by an Indian captain.

Under his captaincy, the Indian team achieved remarkable heights, including the Test series win against Australia at home in 2001, reaching the World Cup Final in 2003, and winning both the one-day and Test series in Pakistan in 2004.

In just a few years, Sourav rewrote the rules of captaincy. Unlike some of his predecessors, he was impartial, non-parochial, and forever pushed his players to perform better. Off the field, Sourav’s interactions with the media, his fans, and detractors were uncompromisingly honest and earned him the respect of cricket followers everywhere. His 5-year reign

as India's most successful skipper came to an end in October 2005 when vice-captain Rahul Dravid was given the hot seat.