A special one for the Maharaj

December 13, 2007

Sourav Ganguly can rest well after a splendid series against Pakistan © AFP

Sourav Ganguly - 9.5
In his most successful series in 11 years, Ganguly probably batted better than he ever has. A mammoth 239 in Bangalore overshadowed the rest but there were two vital second-innings knocks in the first and third Test that snuffed out Pakistan's hopes of a revival. Throw in a fairytale century in front of his doting home crowd - his first in Kolkata - and you had one of the most stirring revivals in recent memory. There were also four wickets, including an untiring spell in Delhi that provided the early opening.

Wasim Jaffer - 9
Jaffer was outstanding in the opening two games. His 53 in the Delhi Test set up the run-chase but it was the towering 202 in Kolkata that will be remembered for long. He couldn't cash in on the starts in Bangalore, and dropped a dolly of a catch when fielding at short leg in Delhi, but he provided much-needed solidity at the top of the order.

VVS Laxman - 9
He began the series with his spot under threat but ended it as one of the most dependable batsmen. A match-winning 72 in Delhi was followed by an expert hundred at his favourite venue, Kolkata. It wasn't until the third Test that Pakistan managed to dismiss him. He didn't make an impact in Bangalore, having to retire hurt in the second innings after being hit on the elbow, but will now take on his favourite opponents - Australia - with loads of confidence.

Yuvraj Singh - 8.5
Grabbing his first chance with the poise of a veteran, Yuvraj changed the dynamics of the final Test. His sizzling 169 was arguably the knock of the series, lifting India from a precarious 61 for 4 and making a mess of Pakistan's hopes. He had a good time with the ball as well, claiming two wickets in the final afternoon of the series and raising visions of an unlikely win.

Anil Kumble - 8
Bounding in with his usual fervour, Kumble enjoyed a successful first series as captain. As expected, he topped the wicket-takers' list, with 18 victims at 26.5, and led the side in an assured manner. He had to put up with dopey pitches but never tired and pegged away till the last ball. It was fitting that he claimed his first series win in Bangalore, his home town where he was cheered heartily.

Zaheer Khan - 7
An inspired spell on the fourth morning in Delhi, when the ball reverse-swung alarmingly, turned to be match-winning. He was economical in Kolkata (1 for 101 in 33.2 overs) and missed the Bangalore Test with an injury to his landing heel.

Irfan Pathan - 6.5
Was called up following injuries to his fast-bowling colleagues but made the most of the chance with the bat. His maiden ton in Bangalore, which involved a big partnership with Ganguly, effectively sealed the series. He didn't have much of an impact with the ball, preferring to bowl accurately and keep the runs down. On a pancake-like pitch it was probably his best option.

Ishant Sharma - 6.5
A five-wicket haul in his second Test couldn't have come at a better time. It vindicated Venkatesh Prasad's faith in him and earned him a berth to Australia. He was impressive with the new ball on the third evening and mopped up the tail with some sensible bowling on the fourth morning. Clocking around 135-140kph, he showed he could use both the bouncer and yorker effectively.

Sachin Tendulkar - 6
Went largely unnoticed in what was a lukewarm series. Played a key role in blunting Shoaib Akhtar on the fourth evening in Delhi and was fluent during his controlled 82 in Kolkata. It was an important knock, one where he and Jaffer set the tone for the batathon. A knee injury kept him out of the Bangalore game but he's not one whom the Aussies will take lightly.

Rahul Dravid - 6
Had a quiet series with some key contributions. A couple of dogged innings in Delhi and Bangalore were overshadowed by Ganguly's flair and an umpiring decision cut short his knock in Kolkata. Wasn't the Wall we're used to seeing and saw his Test average drop below 56.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - 6
Shared an important partnership with Laxman in Delhi, when he reached fifty, and feasted on an insipid attack in Kolkata. Had a reasonably good time behind the stumps, though he was injured for the match played on the toughest pitch.

Harbhajan Singh - 4
A disappointing series overall, barring a couple of good spells in Delhi and Kolkata. Harbhajan was constantly in Kumble's shadow and operated as a partnership-breaker rather than leader of the pack. A stern test awaits in a country where he's played only one Test.

Dinesh Karthik - 4
Had a tough series with the bat and a horror of a game behind the stumps in Bangalore, admittedly on a horror of a pitch, where he set a record for the most byes conceded by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test innings. Showed some batting form with a second-innings fifty in the final Test, one that came from No.7 rather than his usual opening slot. Sneaked into the squad for Australia but it remains to be seen if he gets a game.

Munaf Patel - 3.5
Barring a short burst in Delhi, he struggled through the first two Tests and injured himself ahead of the third. Didn't hit the back-of-a-length spot we're accustomed to seeing from him and wasn't penetrative enough either.

Gautam Gambhir - 3
Missed out in his only chance, in Bangalore, and injured himself by the end of the game. Received a good ball from Mohammad Sami in the first innings - handing him his first wicket in the series - and was deceived by a Shoaib Akhtar slower ball in the second.

'Manner in which I was dropped wasn't right' - Ganguly

'Manner in which I was dropped wasn't right' - Ganguly

December 10, 2007

Sourav Ganguly is so far India's leading Test run-scorer for 2007

Sourav Ganguly has said that his forced exile from international cricket made him more determined to prove a point. He also said that he intends to play through 2008.

"Not better, but probably more determined," Ganguly told the Kolkata-based Telegraph. "I wish to add that the circumstances and the manner in which I got dropped just weren't right. I don't have an issue with being left out, that's part of the game, but the manner wasn't right."

Ganguly had differences with the then coach Greg Chappell and the issue snowballed after one of Chappell's email to the board was leaked in September 2005. On November 22, the selectors ended his five-year reign as Test captain when they picked Rahul Dravid to lead the side for the series against Sri Lanka. Dravid had been handed the one-day captaincy a month before. Ganguly was dropped from the one-day side in October and the Test team in December and made his comeback in to both teams a year later in December last year.

Ganguly, 35, is so far India's leading Test run-scorer for 2007 with 932 runs following his double-hundred in Bangalore, and he has been growing from strength to strength. He squashed all speculations about his retirement, saying he intends to play next year. "Call it [his age] a driving force or whatever, but I want to continue being successful... The hunger hasn't died... Form permitting, I intend playing through 2008."

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.