Sourav Ganguly turns 37 today

Sourav Ganguly turns 37 today. Sourav Ganguly, a household name in India, was born on 8th July,1973 in Calcutta( now known as Kolkata). He was second of the two sons born to Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. He has been blessed with a luxurious lifestyle right from his childhood being son of a printing baron of Asia with palatial house of more than 45 rooms all well decorated in affluence. Nicked named as “Maharaja” by his parents, he has been carrying the airs of his nick name which means a prince.

His elder brother Snehashish Ganguly is five years older to him and played first class cricket for their State of Bengal. Snehashish had a big influence on the little Maharaja. It is said that Sourav who is a natural right hander had to practice as a left hander just to use his left handed brother’s cricketing equipments. Sourav’s mother never wanted to risk him playing cricket. It is only brother Snehashish who laid the foundation of Sourav as a cricketer.

This gifted cricketer had the luxury of having a concrete pitch laid at their home in Behela. The two brothers started their cricketing journey with rigorous practice sessions at home. The elder was the mentor of the little kid. Sourav’s batting talent was first noticed in an under-15 match against Orissa where he scored a century. Probably that innings made him the St. Xavier’s School team captain. But the little kid had the arrogance to the dissatisfaction of his teammates.

A little arrogance could not stop this born leader to climb up the cricketing ladders. He entered the Ranji Trophy arena in the year 1990-91 and became a prolific run getter. As a matter of fact, he replaced his brother Snehashish in the Bengal Ranji Trophy team. As if the elder said carry on my brother and the destiny will take you where you belong. He got the first opportunity to play for India in an ODI at Brisbane against West Indies in 1992. He could not impress in that match and only scored 3 runs. His arrogance again came in to play. He was talked about more for his wrong attitude and disrespect as the little cricketer use to refuse carrying drinks on the field for his seniors. He managed only to get the sacking order perhaps more due to his inherent arrogance.

Thus he was asked to go back to the domestic cricket again. But his determination backed by his talent was enough to dumbfound his critics. He became hungrier for runs and scored heavily in the Ranji Trophy in 1993-94 and 1994-95. His scintillating innings of 171 runs in a Dulip Trophy match in 1995-96 brought him back in to the national squad. He was in again for the tour of England in 1996. He was not considered worthy for the first test match. This time Navjot Sidhu did him a favor. Sidhu’s returning back to India aftermath a spat with the then Indian Skipper Mahammed Azharuddin provided a golden opportunity to Sourav. And he embraced the opportunity in both hands. He scored a century on his debut test match at the Mecca of cricket called Lords. His hunger did not stop there. He scored back to back century at Trent Bridge in the next test match. Can anybody criticize such performances?

Sourav Ganguly’s ascendancy was unstoppable. He became part and parcel of the Indian team. His natural ability on the off side and his lifts coming out of the crease for a sixer became spectators delight. His style of play suited the most in the ODI format. Sourav did not take much time in proving his worth in the ODIs and scored a blistering 113 runs against Sri Lanka in 1997. He found an able partner on the opposite side of the wicket in Sachin Tendulkar thus formed the most destructive opening pair in ODIs the game has witnessed.

Sachin Tendulkar’s sudden announcement to relinquish the captaincy made Sourav to take over the reins in 2000. This happened just after the infamous match fixing scandal. This little arrogant but tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader was destined to take India in to the cricketing glory. His impartial and non-parochial leadership got the best out of each and every player in his team. Sourav is undoubtedly the most successful Indian captain winning 21 test matches out of which 7 have been overseas. He has a success rate of 42% much to the envy of others. He is an eloquent speaker and his match summary to the media has been to the point of precision.

But the little arrogance……yes…..the little arrogance has put him in to trouble time and again. The humble and simple demeanor of Sachin Tendulkar makes him the most lovable cricketer in the country. He only managed to pick up a row with Coach Greg Chappell in early 2006 for his arrogance. But he came back all guns blazing in the test series against South Africa later that year. What can be the reason for Dilip Vengsarkar & Co to drop him for the Irani Trophy when the same player has amassed 1000 runs last year at an average of 61.44? When everybody failed in the Sri Lanka, he failed too. The so called Fab Four all failed.

Off late, I see a democratic BCCI backed by an impartial Selection panel. Who knows Kris Srikkanth’s team of selectors have overruled Vengsarkar’s for a better cause of Indian cricket. Let’s hope this left handed rooky will come out with some fascinating stroke play against the awesome Aussies in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has done this in the past on getting every shock treatment.