Published: Apr 08, 2011, 11:08 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 19, 2014, 06:39 PM (IST)
By Suneer Chowdhary
Sourav Ganguly has been being kind enough to say that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best-ever captain that India has produced. But the fact remain that the foundation of this World Cup-winning side was laid by Ganguly himself.
He backed his instinct and, most importantly, backed his men. His forte lay in nurturing talent that he saw a future in and invested heavily in allowing them bloom in the right environment. That’s how he moulded champions like Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh in their formative years in international cricket.
Ganguly did not get the same freedom as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). And it’s never easy when others pick the team and ask the captain to deliver the goods. It’s the captain who leads the team and he must get the players he wants. The KKR team was picked by a bunch that owed allegiance to the team owners and who probably knew as much about cricket as Ganguly knew about acting.
There were far too many big-ticket names in the squad like Ricky Ponting, Shoaib Akhtar and Chris Gayle, none of whom fit into Ganguly’s scheme of things. The result was a poor first season. And it didn’t help that KKR had an owner who probably got carried away confusing sports with Bollywood. As a result, KKR failed to get to the semi-final of any of the first three IPLs, lost John Buchanan by the end of the second IPL and Ganguly at the end of the third.
In hindsight, it is fair to say that Shah Rukh Khan tried to replicate his own self with the selection of the side, got in larger than life players and achieved nothing on the field of play. Off the field, however, is a different story, given that KKR is one of the biggest brands in the IPL.
Gautam Gambhir was the first player to be bid for in this year’s auction, and it was a no-brainer that Kolkata wanted him in the side. When it became evident that they were ready to shell out a whopping $2.4 million for him, it also became obvious that the captaincy was going to fall in his lap – which it did.
In many ways, Gambhir resembles Ganguly in the manner he carries himself. There is rebellious passion in his demeanour and a will to defy critics and deny the opponents; a no-nonsense captain who will look to carry the Ganguly legacy forward. What has obviously changed for him is that the squad has its share of aggressors, but those who can still escape the radar.
There is a Yusuf Pathan, who is one of more reserved Indian players off the field, but with the bat in his hand, his name assumes a different connotation for the opposition. Shoaib Akhtar has been replaced by Brett Lee, another bowler who can thrill with pace but surprise with his work ethic. And then there is the IPL-weathered all-round skill of Jacques Kallis – who seemed to have bettered his T20-dexerity with age and that, despite belonging to the second-most glamorous team in the competition.
There are two all-rounders, Shakib al Hasan and Ryan ten Doeschate, and in their own ways, they have been the torch-bearers in their own countries and yet, with much to prove at the international stage.
In short, the management has been able to select a side not too dissimilar from the one from 2008 in terms of strength on paper, but the sense is also that this one could possess much more cohesion than the previous one. The results should also come if the players are allowed their own vacuum during the course of the tournament.
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
