A very long time ago, I had written a post on this blog about Ganguly's ousting and his comeback.
The most surprising thing about all this is Ganguly's innings. ANY cricket lover in the world could probably tell you about the entire controversy with Greg Chappell and Ganguly and how he was ousted from the team etc etc because the Indian Media, being the India media, covered it to the last detail. Well, as much as the whole issue was rather damaging for Indian cricket, the truth was that Ganguly was not performing and in that sense, the ousting was justified. Now I was a huge fan of Ganguly, but I can say that he let me down, just like he let down all his other fans. So naturally, when I heard that he was back in the Test side, I was skeptical. Ok let me be more honest. I was BRUTALLY critical. It wasn't a very fair move on my part, but there you go. I had become faithless when it came to Ganguly.
And then, in the test against the Rest of South Africa team, he pulls off a miraculous innings along with Irfan! And in this first test, I find out that he's the one who's saved the Indian team's dignity. Well well. What can I say? Honestly. Because you simply can never tell with India.
Keep going Dada. If this is really your comeback, I'm not one to complain. :)
I wrote that when he made his come back and scored a half century. And today, I stand corrected yet again. I'm not just not complaining, I'm apologising for having been bewafaa (faithless) and I'm saluting him.
For truly he has shown, without any doubt, that he is one of the strongest-willed cricketers the world has seen. An article on cricinfo mentioned about how the reason for his wildly successful comeback shows in his eyes. It is true, even I have noticed it.
Anyone who has watched Ganguly as the captain of India and as a player before he lost his form would easily be able to tell that the Ganguly of then and the Ganguly of now are very different and yet very much the same. Then, he was ferocious, aggressive, expressive, almost arrogant in his stance, in the way he held himself. He was a man who was sure of himself, sometimes almost too much so. And yet, I was a big fan of his, because these characteristics of his, when he was on the field, translated into very entertaining cricket. And clearly, he has been one of India's most successful captains.
But his gradual loss of form did not amuse me in the least and I was a much much bigger fan of Dravid, so Ganguly's loss, when translated to Dravid's gain, made me only too happy. I did not rue Ganguly's axing from the team. After all, he wasn't performing, was he? I even scoffed at the ad he did, where he said "Hi, mera naam Sourav Ganguly hai. Bhoole to nahin?"
But it hasn't been that long since, and today I will hang my head rather shamefully and say that Ganguly has proved me, and all his critics and fans-turned-critics wrong over and over again since his comeback. Today if you look carefully, you will be able to see a much much more serene, calm individual. Just listen to his interviews. He barely raises his voice, even when he's saying something happy. And he goes through the entire interview with a smile that exudes serenity and a quiet confidence. Yes, the old Ganguly is still there, inside him- that confident, self-assured Ganguly. But he is no more overconfident, no more arrogant, no more overly self-assured. Yes, of course he's improved his footwork and his stroke making, but most importantly, he's improved his mentality. He knows his place and his role down to a T and he accepts it with pride. He can hasten or slow his scoring rate according to the situation and he can keep the calmest of heads when India is in turmoil. Gone are the days when he comes in and plays his shots even when he's struggling. Now, if the pitch is proving difficult to play on, he stays, battles through the tough times, reads the pitch and then massacres the bowling.
Another clear indication of the change: Watch Ganguly's reaction when Yuvraj got his hundred in this test match. It was clearly a significant hundred for Yuvraj because it was his first test match in more than a year and Yuvi celebrated it with gusto. But if you'd only started watching his celebration from the time he hugged Ganguly, you could be forgiven for having thought for two seconds that it was Ganguly's hundred. Because Ganguly grabbed hold of Yuvraj, hugged him tight and for quite a while and was shouting in glee with a big smile on his face. It was so heartening to watch him celebrate his team mate's success with such sincere joy and it made me really feel the change in him since his comeback.
And during this double century of his, he was calm, collected, aggressive all at one go. And then he bowled well today too, getting Salman Butt's wicket when none of the regular bowlers could do it. He was economical and when he finally got the wicket, he celebrated it with child-like enthusiasm. It is a wonderful sight- seeing him comeback not just as a much better batsman and person, but also a better bowler and fielder.
He is a clear contender for Man of the Series now. If and when he gets it, I think I'll stand up and clap. Because he deserves it. Hats off to you Dada, for everything you've accomplished, and I hope for you and for India that you have much cricket left in you yet. Because I'm definitely not ready to see the back of you yet. :)
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