Friday, September 16, 2005
The Whole Chappell - Ganguly Blow Up
To make a long story short: GC was well within his rights to do what he did. (Though his timing may not have been quite right). SG had absolutely no business going public with his frustrations and disappointments. SG has lost it. This is a desperate man clutching at straws. He has got to go for the larger good of everyone. The sooner the better. Your comments ?
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12 comments:
I think it was absolutely ridiculous for Ganguly to come out in the open about matters that need to be resolved from within. I sincerely hope that this issue is not blown out of proportion (If it hasn't been already) and everything is resolved mutually. If somebody has to go, then MOST DEFINATELY it has to be Ganguly. I think this comment by ganguly was a ploy by him to gain some sympathy because he knew that he will be axed once he returns home, no matter what he does in the tests because of the disgraceful defeat in the tri-series. To be absolutely frank, I think we have had ENOUGH of Ganguly and even he knows he can't survive for long on his current form. His luck has ran out (being an extremely lucky captain that he was, when team India hit that purple patch) and its time for him to accept that and step down, before being kicked to the curb. Its an utter shame that players like Mohammad Kaif have to suffer because of him (although no way should Yuvraj have been the first choice ahead of Kaif, especially in tests). All this does is destroy the guy's confidence and then you expect him to produce miracles everytime he's given a chance, and he did for god's sake against Australia at home, when all the stalwarts were in the dumps, yet he has to pay the price of an over-confident, stubborn captain. I am really hoping this brings an end to ganguly and if chappell is the one who suffers, and ganguly retained, I see NO future for Indian cricket.
To Gou:
Hahaha. I expected suck comment from you; esp. after dravid was sacked from captaincy unceremoniously...
Why sourav has to go for the larger good of everyone?? At least he is a far better captain than Dravid (you need a bit of aggression n arrogance). Dada's batting sucks at the moment, but who else is shining consistently for the past 2 years?? Apart from Dravid, no one.
Throughout last season, you proclaimed Sehwag as our "savior", and what is Mr. Savior doing now?? I know that you are well aware of the phrase "Form is temporary, Class is permanent". Sourav is a class player, n bad patches are there for everyone. (the one who asks him to step down, GC, himself had seven consecutive ducks; enough to start a poultry farm. The one for whom GC is vouching, had a score string resembling mobile number in 99-00 season, esp. against aussies. Both have proved their class eventually). I feel Ganguly is still our best choice for captain's job. (Obvi qualities: aggression, confidence in youngsters)
To anonymous:
If you think ganguly was an extremely lucky captain n his luck has ran out, check your basic knowledge of cricket again. Not just me but many great players of this game, and i guess even the author of this blog do not doubt his captaincy skills.
Greg has no right to criticize dada.He may have been a gr8 player but as a coach is record is nothing since this is 1st int assignment.In the 2 series up till now , his performance as coach has been nothing gr8 either.India have gone from bad to worse.Saurav has been captain for the last 5 years, he wil go out on his own terms.Instead of hogging the limelight greg should stay in the background and let the captain run the show on the field.
@anonymous: I agree that the issue should not be blown out of proportion. I mean for all you know it could have been a gentle suggestion. It was up to Ganguly to take it in the right spirit. By that I don't mean to say he should have listened, the final decision is his but coming out in the open like that is unpardonable. Unfortunately as long as that man Dalmiya is up there, we can never be sure of justice being done in Indian cricket.
However I would not demean his past achievements by attributing them purely to "luck". Yes he was lucky in the sense his captaincy coincided with the purple patch of the greatest batsman India has ever produced. He was lucky that he got the services of a revitalised Anil Kumble. But other than that he has a big hand in creating this team. Kaif, yuvraj, Zaheer, laxman and most importantly Sehwag and Harbhajan owe a lot to Dada for the way he nurtured them.
I think he should have gone out a year ago with dignity. He should have realised that he had done as much as he possibly could and that his job was over. Unfortunately he was bitten by that bug - the greed of power, so common among Indians. Of course, he had the example of Mohd Azharuddin before him - a great man whose demise was brought about by his lust for power.
@Om: I think it is particularly churlish of you to say my comments "suck". I giess we can agree to disagree and say that our opinions are wrong but to say that they suck os rude to say the least.
As I said earlier Sourav has saturated as captain. With him at the helm this team is bound to be stagnant and in the end dissemble. Hence he has to go for the larger good of everyone.
Dravid has never been appointed captain for a long period. How do you know he lacks aggression ? In fact in what little he has captained his field placings are much more attacking that Ganguly's. Even if one assumed he was not aggressive enough, I would rather see India fail under a new captain (it could be Dravid, Sehwag, even Tendulkar) rather than see us continue to fail under Ganguly. It is a wrong conception that I want Dada out because of his failure with the bat. In fact I think he would have a lot to contribute as a batsman in both forms of the game once the pressure of captaincy had been lifted of him.
I fail to see why Sehwag comes into picture mainly because he has been doing reasonably well. He was our saviour in the Pak series and while he may not be one right now, his performance are pretty acceptable to say the least in ODIs and great in tests.
Sourav is NOT a great test player. He is (was) a "good" one at best. As an ODI player no doubt he was great at one point. Now he is just terrible.
I fail to see how GC's bad patch comes into the picture. By that standards John Buchanan who has played no international cricket should not be going anywhere close to the Aussie dressing room. It is the coach's job to put forh suggestions that he thinks are best for the team.
I agree that the final decision should be the captain's. I don't blame him for disagreeing. But I certainly blame him for his outburst.
@anand: When did Greg "criticize" Dada ? If anything he gave him his suggestion and that too within the confines of the dressing room which he has every right to do.
As I said earlier his record as player and coach is irrelevant. Sourav has been captain for too long. He should have gone out on his own terms. Unfortunately he chose not to. I still hope he resigns with dignity asap.
Looking at the reported developments everyday in the media, it doesn't look very good for Indian cricket at the moment. Chappell has gone to Harare, while Ganguly has chosen to stay back and "enjoy" Zimbawe and its scenic pictures (yea right). And this after it was reported that both have decided to not fuel this controversy even further by agreeing to go to Harare to prepare for the second test. But guess who decided to back out, our most successful captain ever. This is sheer arrogance and I really hope and pray that it eventually leads to his downfall. The captain who sacrificed his opening spot for the betterment of the team, the one who backed the players he believed in, is all of a sudden gone selfish and is only thinking about himself. No matter what the situation, we were NEVER going to loose to Zimbawe, so this one doesn't count for ANYTHING. For all those, who are against me decrediting Saurav for all the success he had, I just want to say that I NEVER said he doesn't have captaincy skills or his captaincy was in no way responsible for the great season we had in 03-04. But there is no way it can be denied that he was lucky enough to have the players that he did, who LED from the front and took this team to glory. I personally don't remember any innings besides the one in brisbane that Saurav played to lead from the front. This "bad" patch that everyone is referring to has been going on since the last TWO seasons now and how long can we let this continue? I just can't comprehend how it is even possible to judge Dravid, on just one assignment. For those who say, his captaincy has produced nothing different, give me a break and look at how many opportunities the guy got compared to Saurav. Besides being the one who ALWAYS leads from the front, he is definately captaincy material becuase he is a thinker. His field settings are certainly more aggressive and thoughtful than that of Ganguly, who primarily makes his decision on instinct. Even the greats of the game have agreed that he is not known for his tactics. I am an ardent fan of Ganguly and truly believed he WAS a good captain and a great player. Unfortunately that is not the case anymore. I was very much hopeful that ganguly would come back rejuvinated after his ban and that he definately deserved a shot for the lanka series. Heck I still think he deserves a chance in the team purely as a player, but because of pressures of captaincy he just can't get out of his so called bad patch. I think it would do him a world of good if the pressure is taken off by handing over the captaincy to dravid, who can obviously handle it. It would be a step too late (it should have been given to him for this series itself) but better late than never. And please, give the guy some time to prove himself and then if that doesn't we move to someone else, but what's the point of sticking with the same guy with same results. On top of this his personal preferences to pick yuvraj over kaif and harbajan over kumble just doesn't make sense. Kaif is always the one to pay the price, just because yuvraj is the blue-eyed boy. It's the performance that counts, but of course he chooses to ignore that, otherwise he himself would be long gone.
Here is an article that comes clean on exactly what happened between Ganguly and Chappell. Coming from one of the most trusted and leading websites on cricket, I definately believe the information provided is accurate. It's a clear indication of the state of mind of the Indian captain. Take a look at it and decide for yourself!
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/219486.html
@anonymous: I agree with you almost completely. For a moment I thought it was me reading my own stuff. Who are you ??
Hey the name is Akbar, from Houston, TX. I am just another frustrated cricket fanatic who wants his under-achieving team to finally breakthrough and become a world-leader on the field as well, along with financially. I was very optimistic after the appointment of chappell that this Indian team, in a slump for a couple of seaons now, will redeem itself and bring back the glory it truly deserves for the amount of talent it posseses. No doubt, I was disappointed with the results in the two tri-series we played, but definately saw some improvements the team that ended the last season and the team that started this one. Of course, unlike half the population in India and even some "greats" of cricketing world, I don't expect chappell to work up miracles and suddenly turn the fortunes of this team around. But given time, i do believe he can make this unit into a top one. When India went through that purple patch under Ganguly, his leadership had me in complete awe and for that reason I believed we finally had a captain who was aggressive enough and with the right attitude. Of course everyone goes through a slump and being the man for this team during its good times, we had to support ganguly during his bad times. I think one horrible season was good enough for a class batsman of Ganguly's caliber to gain his touch back (Although mind you, Dravid is back in from after one bad SERIES). But then if it doesn't happen, you have to believe that he has passed his prime. For all those who say, Class is permanent, why can't we have Gavasker and Kapil come back, because they should still have CLASS right? Unfortunately it doesn't work like that and Ganguly has served Indian cricket well enough, but needs to make way for others. I was an eternal optimist when I expected Ganguly to come back with a bang after his ban and I did believe that should be his last shot to get his game back. That didn't happen and the MAHA PUNDITS of our board gave him captaincy back. Gosh, if you still can't let go of the man, atleast give the leadership to a with Confidence (Dravid) so he can exude some of it on the team. How can you expect an individual so low on confidence, that he acts like a twelve year old kid and goes public about private issues to gain sympathy as the last outcry to clinch on his position, to revive this team of multi-talented players? Its just not possible. My plea, and I am sure its echoed by all sensible Indian cricket fans, to the BCCI is to make some tuff decisions and let go of Ganguly. He DOES NOT belong in the test team. He deserves another shot in the ODI team purely as a player, and only if he perfoms can he stay. It's a real shame that with players with the caliber of Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, Harbajhan (another victim of Ganguly's thoughless leadership) Pathan, we still have an average team that cannot be consistent. I can say without any hesitations that our current crop of players are out best shot at the ultimate trophy in two years. We have time to build this team up for that, NON-PERFORMING leaders are replaced.
hey gou
i meant "such" comments, it was a typo error u gareeb man!
n yeah, after reading entire account o what happened, i guess someone should show ganguly videotape of his past achievements....
@om,
oh all right then.
cheers :-)
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