Saurav Ganguly – a perfect team director

Amidst heavy speculation, former Indian captain, Saurav Ganguly might replace Ravi Shanstri as the team director for the Indian team. While many inside the BCCI think that Ganguly might not be good for the team considering his outspoken personality, there might be more good than bad if Ganguly actually takes over the responsibility. Here we bring you why we think Ganguly is the ideal choice as the team director:

1. A very fine leader

Ganguly took over captaincy in 2000, and soon took over the responsibility very well.  Within a few years of his captaincy, Ganguly rewrote the rules of being a captain of a cricket team. Unlike some of his predecessors, Ganguly was considered impartial, non-parochial, and forever pushed his players to perform better. Off the field, his interactions with the media, his fans, and detractors were uncompromisingly honest and earned him the respect of cricket followers everywhere.

Author Mihir Bose, in his book, The magic of Indian cricket: cricket and society in India. commented that “The cricket world had gotten too used to the stereotype of the meek Indian cricketer. All that has changed under Ganguly, perhaps for the better.” He credits Ganguly for not being shy of taking on responsibility. “He showed that he can be a leader of a team, which has greats like Sachin and Dravid in the side, without any problems. Under Ganguly’s leadership, India started winning matches and tournaments, previously lacking from the team considerably.”

From his 2003 World Cup run to him taking his shirt off after winning the Natwest Series in England, the Indian team developed with both Ganguly’s good and bad. Under his captaincy, India rose from eighth position in the ICC rankings to second position! His captaincy never affected his performance though, as he still remains the fifth highest run scorer in Tests.

2. Not afraid to take risks.

Ganguly has been one such  leader, who is never afraid to take calculated risks.
Let me give you a few instances, where he went out of the conventional way, took some risks, and ultimately won us the match:

Let me take you back to one of the finest test victories of India. It was the second test match against Australia in Eden Gardens. India after batting second went down at a lowly score of 171 after dismissing Australia for 445. Trailing on, India lost its first opener at a score of 52. Instead of sending in form  Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar or going himself, Ganguly decided to send VVS Laxman first down. It was a big risk. A risk that puzzled many. Laxman wasn’t in the best of forms having scored 20,12 in the first test match. But what happened after that is history:

Another fine example is the India vs Pakistan ODI match in Visakhapatnam, 2005. As it always has been, the stakes are too high in an India Pakistan match. India lost Tendulkar early, batting first. With the like of Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, still to come, it wasn’t so bad, yet. But Ganguly decided to send someone, who was only in his fifth match, hardly making any significant impact in the previous four: MS Dhoni. Very rarely this happens that a wicket keeper batsman is promoted to such to such an high position. It was Dhoni’s chance to impress now, make sure he lives up to the confidence of his captain. He ended up scoring a mammoth 148 off 123 balls, winning his side the match.

The current Indian team has a very radical approach to matches. The same side, the same tactics, the same thing every time. Despite losing badly in Australia, they kept on playing the same side again and again except for a few changes, which didn’t work out for them obviously. Maybe his appointment will change such a mindset in the Indian side. Players will now have

3. Stands for young talent.

Ganguly has always been a person under which a lot of young stars have nurtured. He always made sure an debutant was given a minimum five chances to impress, before deciding to drop him. The current Indian side, except for a few players, are like permanently inked to be a part of the squad, despite their meagre performances. India’s bench strength is probably better than any other side, but it refuses to test its bench strength. Though India has been successful despite this, it isn’t much good in the longer run for the team. Talented players like Robin Uthappa, Pragyan Ojha, Manish Pandey, Abhinav Mukund still struggle to find a place in the team.
Ganguly’s leadership as a team director, might allow more young talent to come across and perform in the big platform. Unless India tests it’s bench strenght, it will face a very difficult task in the future.

Good or bad, Ganguly will, for sure have a very big impact to the side. He’s been an excellent cricketer in his days, being completely faithful to the Indian National side. His experience can help the young side such as us, perform well in overseas conditions and our new Test captain, Virat Kohli will also benefit from one of India’s most successful Test Captain yet. BCCI is still in a dilemma over Ganguly’s appointment and has refused to take any decision as of now. Let’s hope there is word out on the decision pretty soon.