Published: Jul 08, 2016, 04:28 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 08, 2016, 04:28 PM (IST)
Since the start of 21st century, India have seen a huge shift in terms of success in cricket. Despite having won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, and having produced players like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricket team were never really seen as a dominant force. If one looks at the present, the Indian team is feared and equally respected worldwide. In the past 16 years, India have won nearly everything. The trio of T20 World Cup 2007, ICC World Cup 2011, ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and ‘n’ number of bilateral series wins. Most of the success has come under the leadership of MS Dhoni, and he is rightfully praised for it. But if one takes a look at India’s performance over these years, it is truly evident that Sourav Ganguly had a major hand to play in India’s success. ALSO READ: Happy b’day Ganguly! Former Indian skipper turns 44
Having made his ODI debut in 1992 and Test debut in 1996, Ganguly was a regular in the Indian side in the second half of 1990’s. But since the turn of the century, his impact and contribution to Indian cricket has been beyond words. In the year 2000, Ganguly took over the captaincy from Sachin Tendulkar, and changed the scene of Indian cricket forever. In the preceding four years before his term, India were dismal in Tests, winning just two series over the time, both at home. In terms of ODIs, there wasn’t much to celebrate either.
Ganguly enjoyed tremendous success as captain from 2000-2005, forming an brilliant combination with coach John Wright. The results were there to be seen by one and all. His aggressive captaincy along with Wright’s tactical and simple methods saw India become a dominant force in the cricketing arena. ALSO READ: Ganguly’s aggression still flows through Team India
In 2000-01, India hosted Australia, and won the three-match Test series by 2-1. The world got a glimpse of Ganguly’s aggressive and bold captaincy during the Kolkata Test, which India won by 212 runs despite Australia forcing a follow-on. The star of the show were VVS Laxman, who scored 281 in the second innings and Harbhajan Singh, who took a 6 for 73, but it was Ganguly’s captaincy which masterminded the game. This, as many say, was the fixture which brought the fear factor in the Indian team.
In 2002, India won the NatWest series, beating England in the final. The day will always be remembered for Ganguly’s passionate celebration, as he rejoiced his side’s win by taking off his jersey. This again, was a statement, that India were a powerhouse in the making since then and could compete face to face against opposition on their day.
Ganguly’s greatest success as skipper came in the years 2003-04. India reached the final of the ICC World Cup 2003, only to lose against the invincible Australian team. After that, they toured Australia and did brilliantly to draw the four-match series 1-1. Following this, his team defeated Pakistan at their own backyard.
By 2005 end, Ganguly had stepped down from the captaincy role, after his much publicised row with the then coach Greg Chappell. He ended captaining India 49 times in Tests, winning 21, losing 13 and drawing 15. His ODI records as captain were equally impressive, with 76 wins in 146 matches.
The biggest contribution of Ganguly though, was building a team for the future. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Dhoni came into the international scene on the back of Ganguly’s confidence. To add to that, Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh enjoyed their best years under his reign. All the mentioned players were part of their future success, including the T20 World Cup 2007 win and ICC World Cup 2011 win.
It is safe to say, Dhoni was the captain of best Indian team, but Ganguly was the best captain of Indian team. Dhoni in his captaincy term reaped huge benefits from some wonderful decisions made by his former skipper. To sum up, Ganguly made huge contributions with his bat and captaincy to win matches for his nation. His greatest contribution to the team has been the nucleus he built during his captaincy, which has been the catalyst behind the future success of India.
(R Narayan is a reporter with CricketCountry, and is an ardent cricket and football enthusiast (big Manchester United fan). Having followed cricket since 2003, he likes high scoring matches as well as good fast bowling. His Twitter handle is @RNarayan24nov)
