James McKeown
The Maharaj Of Indian Cricket !
December 25th 2007 15:26
He was considered to be a sensational cricketer and was picked for the tour of Australia at a very young age.But that tour proved to be a nightmare for him .His attitude was questioned and there were only negative reports about him in the press.It was said that he refused to serve drinks and discharge other duties as the twelfth man of the team.His aristocratic upbringing was highlighted and he was deemed unfit for a team game like cricket.As he came,so he went , completely unnoticed.His performance in the domestic circuit was also not exemplary so when he was picked for the tour of England,cricket pundits bemoaned and pointed this as yet another whimsical selection at the behest of the then all powerful,Jagmohan Dalmia,the president of the Board of Cricket Control of India.
He started his second innings with a grand century at Lords and here the "Maharaja"finally found his rightful position.Rest is the history as the maharaj,also known as Saurav Ganguly kept growing in stature to be ultimately appointed the Captain of the Team.
When he relinquished captain ship, he had already become the most successful captain of Indian cricket.He introduced a new culture in the team and returned every opposition irrespective of their stature in equal measure; off the field as well as on the field.He advocated fearless cricket and did not mind rubbing the wrong way whoever acted snobbish and pricey with him.Steve Waugh and Andrew Flintoff must surely remember some of those incidents.As for his game, once Rahul Dravid famously described him as "the God of off side".
No other Indian Captain has weilded as much influence and commanded as much respect as Saurav did.He had the absolute authority primarily because of his fanatic fan following and his very close proximity with Dalmiya.
Saurav wanted to start a Cricket Academy in Kolkata and had sought expert advice from the Australian Great Greg Chapel.It was on Saurav's recommendation that Greg got the job of coaching team India.But Greg had other ideas and he was not anymore comfortable with Saurav Ganguly in the playing eleven.Amidst huge controversy,Saurabh was dropped and the law of justice took its own course when the wheel turned full circle and Greg too had to quit for good.
Nobody,including Saurav himself would have imagined the stupendous ways his journey would take.His determination was awesome and he achieved all his unfulfilled dreams.He is perhaps the most valuable cricketer of India today.The whole of India is immensely pleased that he is playing his 100'th test.Hopefully he would continue with this form and keep playing up to the next World Cup.India adores her Saurav !
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Comment by ShinySanjeev
So is the Indian team, generally... see at http://www.sportnewds.tv