In lauding MS Dhoni, let’s not forget Sourav Ganguly’s role
In lauding Dhoni, let's not forget Ganguly's role
By Kundan Choudhary
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is considered the best captain India ever had. And he truly deserves that rating, looking at his track record. He has the highest win percentage ever with 61.72%. He has always led the team from the front by being exemplary. He has continued the trend started by Sourav Ganguly of winning outside India and shows confidence in his young players. He has proved that Indian team is capable of winning without the big guns like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
He handpicked young players and proved that quality international cricketers can be found outside the traditional stronghold like Mumbai and Delhi. It was under Ganguly that India found players but also from smaller centres like Ranchi, Meerut, Najafgarh etc.
Under his leadership, India has won the inaugural ICC T20 World Championship. He powered India to the No.1 rankings in both Test and ODI’s – unparalleled in the history of Indian cricket.
Statistically, Dhoni is the best Indian captain ever. But as they say, stats don’t tell you the full story. This is true when we compare Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni. The former has a winning percentage of 53.9, which is less than Dhoni.
If we look back when Ganguly took over the reins of the team, Indian cricket was in a big mess because of the match-fixing scandals. The great Tendulkar had stepped down and no one wanted to lead India. It is at this moment of crisis that Ganguly stepped in and took control of the reins.
The image of Indian cricket suffered big time and protests greeted the team everywhere. It was Ganguly who had to clean up the mess in the cricket. He started his tenure by building a new team. It was common sight to see Ganguly in the stands at various domestic tournaments searching for the right talent.
The results were soon seen… Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and many others made their way into the national side. Ganguly also questioned the regional bias in selection. For the first time of Indian cricket, the captain had his voice heard in selection process. He also played an important role in the appointment of John Wright as the Indian coach. The cumulative results were visible on field: India beat Australia in the ICC Knock-out series and reached the finals in 2000. The team beat England in the 2002 NatWest Trophy final against unbelievable odds. Ganguly also guided the team to reach the 2003 World Cup final. The team developed the winning habit on overseas soil.
Ganguly spoke his mind and refurbished the image of Indian cricket by paying back opponents in the same coin. He did not mind if his action generated controversy – like keeping the rival captain waiting for the toss.
Cold stats would credit Dhoni as the best Indian captain ever. Dhoni’s image as “Captain Cool” in sharp contrast to Ganguly’s controversial image also helped the former. But, as they say, stats don’t reveal everything.
Ganguly captained India when nobody wanted to lead India. It was one of the most painful phase of Indian cricket. Indian cricket has not seen national captains sitting in the stands to watch Ranji Trophy matches with the idea of spotting talent. Ganguly changed that image. Today’s superstars like Zaheer, Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Sehwag have generously and openly conceded that whatever they are today is largely due to their formative years as international players under Ganguly.
It would be fair to say that the good work that Ganguly did in those traumatic years in Indian cricket is made optimum use by the cool-headed leader in Dhoni.
(Kundan Choudhary, a third year Engineering student in Electronics & Communications from Indore, is a passionate cricket fan who admires Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. He also loves other sports. Travelling and reading are two of his leisure time activities)