Monday 26 December 2005

Ganguly Vs Others

Saurav Ganguly was dropped from the Test Match squad announced for 3rd Test match between India and Sri Lanka. People, politicians, yesteryear players et al called it Outrageous, Criminal, unjustified, monstrous, devastating and so on. Selectors called it justified, a step towards future, a reward for “Consistent” Yuvraj Singh and vision for Indian Cricket looking 5-6 years ahead. Our lovable Greg Chappell called him a “liability” on the team, a player who lacks motivation, a player who adversely affects the morale of the team, a horrendous fielder and a below average test match bowler. There also has been a talk of Ganguly being out of form.

Strong views, in fact very-very strong views indeed.

Would like to present to you some hardcore figures. I would like to draw comparisons between batting averages of our middle order batsmen to prove a few points. So how long back do we need to go to look for someone’s consistent performance? Well – I went back to Oct 2002, which is almost 3 years back. I have tracked performance of our middle order batsmen from then on. We shall also look at their year-wise performance too. Let me state here that I have all the scorecards of all the matches that India has played from Oct 2002’. Let me know if someone disputes the figures. I shall dispatch a copy of the records to him/her. But then - lets get into the figures:

Oct 2002’-Dec2005’:
Player
Total Innings
Batting Average

Avg. As Captain

Saurav Ganguly
34
-
33.17
Rahul Dravid
47
56.27
20.58 (In 12 Inn.)
Sachin Tendulkar
41
45.56

VVS Laxman
44
39.27

Yuvraj Singh
14
29.71



Apr 2004’ – Dec 2005’

Player
Total Innings
Batting Average
Avg. As Captain
Saurav Ganguly
19
-
35.11
Rahul Dravid
26
55.15
22.9 (In 10 Inn.)
Sachin Tendulkar
21
48.38

VVS Laxman
25
29.36

Yuvraj Singh
12
32.58



In 2004’

Player
Total Innings
Batting Average
Avg. As Captain
Saurav Ganguly
8
-
49
Rahul Dravid
16
51.06
20.25 (In 7 Inn.)
Sachin Tendulkar
13
47.23

VVS Laxman
14
22.33

Yuvraj Singh
8
34.62



In 2005’

Player
Total Innings
Batting Average
Avg. As Captain
Saurav Ganguly
11
28.0 (In 3 Inn.)
24.9
Rahul Dravid
10
36.3
36.3 (in 3 Inn.)
Sachin Tendulkar
8
50.25

VVS Laxman
10
39.9

Yuvraj Singh
4
28.5



Let me draw some straightforward conclusions from the above figures.
ü       Ganguly’s batting average is 33.17 in the last 3 years.
Ø       Yes he is the last in the group of the four top batsmen of our team.
Ø       But is 33.17 a bad average considering that he has had to pull a “down and out” team (remember the time he took over the captaincy of the side). Others had to think only about their own batting, whereas Ganguly had to think about the strategies, the plans etc. Trust me, captaining a side and managing a team is a lot harder job than it seems. But if 33.17 is indeed bad – I am sure 39.27 (average score of VVS Laxman) cannot be very good. Or is it?
Ø       Note that in the same period – Rahul Dravid’s average as captain fell by more than half his overall average. His average as captain in the last 3 years (whenever he has had the opportunity) is a dismal 20.58 – whereas his overall average is 56.27! Let me ask you (and I will keep asking this all through this article) – Whom do we want? We want Dravid as a pure batsman who performs out of his skin to get us bigger scores or we want Dravid as captain? You decide.

ü       Ganguly’s average in last one-and-a-half years (since April 2004) is 35.11.
Ø       He scored at a much better average than VVS Laxman who has 29.36 as his batting average in the same period. Not a sign of a person OUT OF FORM as has always been suggested in the case of Saurav Ganguly. Now is it? If Ganguly has been out of form since April 2004 – I guess Laxman should have been thrown out of the team long back. Nay – all you “Ganguly Bashers” don’t want to see Laxman thrown out. Well neither do I. But to throw out Ganguly on his form is as criminal as throwing out Laxman in 2004. And remember the reasoning about the “age” factor that selectors keep putting forth? Well both are at the same age – In fact I guess Laxman is a bit older than Ganguly. Anyways that was only an “argument” on behalf of selectors while kicking Saurav out – so lets move on.
Ø       Kindly note: Rahul has an over all batting average of 55.15 in the same period (April 2004-Dec 2005’). But as captain? He has an average of 22.9! Well considering that he captained India in 5 matches as compared to Ganguly who captained in 10 matches – I guess Ganguly has performed much better than Dravid! Especially since Ganguly has a better average than Dravid as captain! Would I be wrong in presuming that? There is not much difference in the number of matches each has captained. Remember, I am only interpreting figures for all the knowledgeable people who talk about Ganguly being in BAD form in Test Matches for a LONG-LONG TIME! It also proves a point about how difficult it is to captain a side and when read in that pretext – Ganguly seems to have done very-very well. Hasn’t he?

ü       Let me take figures of our players in 2004 alone. Just to make my point. Ganguly scored at an average of a whopping 49.0 in 2004!
Ø       Well he certainly was out of form I must say! Huh! Don’t forget that we are STILL in 2005’. So it not all that long back!
Ø       He was only second to Rahul Dravid who had an average of 51.06. Dravid had an average of 20.25 as a captain in the same year. We still wanted him to be a captain or would prefer him to be a pure batsman? We surely know how to shoot our own foot! Well so be it.

ü       And then came the Pakistan series in 2005. Well, that is one series where Saurav after a long-long time did not do anything to write home about. We have to accept that. He has scored at an average of around 10 runs per innings in that series (Indians batted in total of 5 innings).
Ø       That we could not win that series (we drew the test match series) was largely due to the fact that our captain did not fire. But then it was a tough series against our archrivals and hence the expectation of all of us was phenomenal from our own team. No excuses though for Saurav’s dismal performance in that series. But then, is it good enough reason for him to be made a scapegoat? Let me give you another set of figures in that case:
v      Sachin Tendulkar made 194 in the first innings of the first test match that India played against Pakistan (in Pakistan itself in 2004). Look at his scores after that right through the Pakistan and then Australian & South African series (the last two series were played in India). He has scored 2, 8, 1, 8, 2, 5, 55, 3, 20 & 32. At a very encouraging average of 13.6! Not one – not two – he failed miserably in 3 series! But – he is a great batsman – isn’t he? And he is too great to be removed from team on the basis of things like FORM etc. Oh C’mon – give me a break.
v      Sachin finally came back to form with a double century (248 runs) against Bangladesh! Now that was a great innings without doubt. It proves one point “at least” – Form is temporary but class is permanent! Shouldn’t we apply this to Ganguly too? Anyways – Lets come back to the subject we are discussing.

ü       So Ganguly was out of form in Pakistan series. How did he choose to respond? He scored a century in the next series that was between India and Zimbabwe (played in Zimbabwe). What did we say – “Oh well – c’mon – it was against a side like Zimbabwe! Anybody can score a century against Zimbabwe!” Oh yeah? Then how come only Ganguly and Laxman scored centuries in that series? And how come Sachin’s Double Century against Bangladesh is considered to be return of form but Saurav’s century is considered a non-event? Remember all you Chappell’s admirers – this was the same innings before which Ganguly was asked to quit the team and allow Yuvraj Singh to play. Has it ever happened in Cricketing history that a touring team’s captain is ASKED to quit even before a series has started? And what had Mr. Chappell seen in Ganguly’s batting that he wanted Ganguly to quit? After all the selectors had decided to retain him even after his poor performance against Pakistan. What right did Chappell have to ask Ganguly to quit? Did he start thinking that he owned an exclusive right to take decisions on part of our country? I mean – Bullshit. And look at how Ganguly responded. He scored a century and proved more than one point to Mr. Chappell and all the other “G-Bash” team. His Century in Zimbabwe was worth triple hundred – considering that Mr. Chappell had started playing his own game to dethrone Ganguly by hook or by crook. Ganguly’s century made him think of another strategy to get him removed. He shot off an e-mail telling everyone that Ganguly was Physically & Mentally sick. He is a worthless fielder and a person who has an adverse affect on the team. He lacks motivation and conspires against players! All this and much worse. And hello! Mr. Chappell could tell and analyze all this within a matter of 3-4 days that Indian team was in Zimbabwe! Something John Wright could not understand in 4+ years. Something we Indians did not understand in the last 8+ years and something even the media did not get a hint of – considering they also find out which company’s toilet papers do our players use! What we all collectively did not understand – our new coach understood in a week’s time! Wow! Some human being, this Mr Chappell!

ü       But anyways – we were talking about cricketing scores here. Ganguly has scored runs from that Zimbabwe series onwards at an average of 40.9. Though his overall average in 2005 has been around 27.0 (largely due to one bad series against Pakistan). So what happens when India return after first series victory against any international side (outside the subcontinent) in the last 15+ years?
Ø       We drop Ganguly from One-day internationals.
Ø       The logic given – to start with – was:  Ganguly is unfit. When Ganguly declared himself fit. They said they did not want to change a winning side. When India lost to South Africa in a one day. They still did not pick up Ganguly – Logic put forth was – they are building a team for 2007 and wanted young players. As if – Ganguly was the oldest of the lot and that Dravid & Sachin were getting younger by the day!
Ø       So effectively – doors were shut on Ganguly as a one-day player. We may never see Ganguly perform in those blue overalls. It pains my heart, as it should yours. Here is a man who led us into such delightful victories over a long period of time and what he finally gets is a boot. Not even a chance to perform as a player if not a captain? Things could not have gone any crueler. Definitely no. But then we were in for a shock in a few days time.

ü       Ganguly had to be brought back into the test side since he had scored a century in the previous series (against Zimbabwe). They thought that Ganguly is in such poor state of mind that he will fail miserably and then they will get a chance to fire him. So they picked him – but did not make him a captain as our Chappell Unckile was much more comfortable with Dravid as captain. It is first time in the history of International cricket that a captain who has won an overseas series has been dropped! Never before has it happened in any of the topsides. But, c’mon we are Indians and we do strange things. Add this to that list! But they had picked Ganguly and were waiting for him to fail.
Ø       Nothing prepared them for what happened in the match. They got a mild shock in form of a 40 & 39 that Ganguly scored in both the innings of 2nd Test Match against Sri Lanka. He was also instrumental in stabilizing the innings both the times with fruitful partnerships.
Ø       But then our selectors are made of sterner self! Ain’t they? Mild shocks don’t even register on their skin. They worked as per plan – they threw out Ganguly anyways. And the reason was again the same old one – they want a player who can play for next 5-6 years and not the ones who can play for 2-4 years. Good Reasoning Mr. Kiran More! You did solve a great problem facing Indian Team! What would we do without you? Oh!
Ø       But then, they retained Kumble, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman! Congratulations – these players will play for next 5-6 years! What a relief! Wow! We are indeed so lucky! But hey – Ganguly cannot play even the 2-4 years that HE STILL CAN! Why – I asked? Well we have to play the Upcoming, Promising, “Consistent” & In-form batsman Yuvraj Singh at No. 6!!!!! Never mind, so be it. In that case – let me show you some more statistics – this time of our very own CONSISTENT young player whom our selectors have backed at the cost of a great player like Ganguly.

ü       Putting it straight – Yuvraj Singh has a career average of 29.71 in test Matches.
Ø       Since April 2004 he has scored at a rate of 32.58.
Ø       In 2004 alone he has had an average of 34.62
Ø       And in 2005 he has a batting average of 28.5! Very Promising! Is he the In-form batsman we wanted to replace Ganguly with? Is he “Consistent”? Well I don’t think I need to answer that. A young player with age on his side – still performs lower than Ganguly and gets preference over him? Smells really bad – doesn’t it?
Ø       Look at the averages of Tendulkar, Dravid & Ganguly when they started playing for India. They were consistently at an average of 42-45 and more. Well you decide if Yuvraj is in that cadre. Does he deserve to be in place of Ganguly? Is it even worth contemplating? You ask yourself. I can’t figure out – unless some one is hell bent on keeping Ganguly out irrespective of whether he performs or not. I could understand if someone with Tendulkar like ability had come in now and you could see greatness written all over him. You want such a player to be in the team and play him young. But just because a man has been performing averagely does not mean you will kick out a great player. Now does it? It is like saying that Shane Warne must make way for Stuart Macgill in Australia – just because Stuart Macgill takes wickets by the buckets whenever played. People also say that Steve Waugh had to make way for Ricky Ponting in the Australian Test Squad. But do not forget that Steve Waugh was on the wrong side of 36 years of age. And Ganguly is still around 32-33 yrs of age. Where is the comparison?
Ø       Either Yuvraj has some powerful backing or there is something that I cannot see in the figures that Selectors can see in dressing room!

How do you summarize all this madness? Well we cannot even think of finishing this saga without special mention of the role of Mr. Greg Chappell, Mr. Kiran More and not the least Mr. Rahul Dravid.  And I choose to address them directly. Excuse me – since I don’t see how else I would be able to put forth my feelings in words.

Mr. Chappell, when we gave you the responsibility of coaching this Indian Team – we thought you would work with us to give us joy. But contrary to everything that we had thought – you have been responsible for bringing in chaos in the Indian Team and this country as a whole. You have yourself spread insecurity amongst the best of the players and have brought down the morale of Indians in general. We wanted you to respect our heroes. You have done exactly the opposite. You started targeting Tendulkar even before you landed in India to take up the assignment. But to your own benefit – you soon realized that you tried to gulp down a fish of too large a size. Hence you targeted Saurav who has always been on the brink of controversy. You did get an able ally/stooge in form of our Chairman of Selectors and our current Skipper. But this is a land of fighters and though we do not display our aggression very often – I would caution you against pushing us too hard. You shall be burnt – trust me. We do not want you to lose your job. We know it earns you millions of bucks. Not that you have not got us victories. Indian team is playing well and we want it to do well. But not at the cost of you stampeding any of our heroes. If the rumors have to be believed – you are after Sehwag now. We treat any foreign personnel with respect Sir – but don’t push your luck too far. You shall be responsible if you are thrown out of this country quickly and swiftly without remorse. We have done that in Hockey and we can do that even in Cricket. Don’t chew more than you can digest Sir. Behave. And learn quickly to respect our heroes – because our patience is soon dying out.

Mr. Kiran More, you were one of our better wicket keepers in recent times to have served India. We have almost struggled to get a replacement for you ever since you were kicked out of the team. You were never great – as I am sure you will agree. Hence, you do not understand the meaning of how a great player is hurt when not treated in a proper manner. Perhaps you will never understand. We all saw the embarrassment on your face while announcing the Indian team for Pakistan (By the time I was writing this article – the Indian team for Pakistan series was announced). You were ashamed of the way people of this country made you eat & chew your ego to bring back Ganguly. Though your face also showed that you would stop at nothing to kick Ganguly out again – the moment he gives you a chance. Fair enough – we cannot expect more out of a gutless and a man without respect (like you) anyways. But remember – you are trying to back Mr. Greg Chappell who will probably go away in another 2 years. You may be out of selection panel in another year. By choosing to tow the lines of Mr. Chappell and to disrespect a proven hero of our times – you have taken a great risk. You have done what Australian Cricket team as a whole could not do for 4 years. You have managed to embarrass Ganguly in a way Australians wanted him to be. And what greater pleasure will they have than to see their own national Mr. Greg Chappell manipulating and succeeding in doing it! Remember, if you are thrown out of selection panel tomorrow – you shall be responsible. And stop saying that you have worries about future of Indian Cricket team and that you are building a team for future. You never were and never will be a futuristic man. One who does not know how to respect performers are indeed ignorant & naïve – and you are one of them. I do not remember a single good word you have said about Ganguly while dropping or picking him. Which clearly shows that you have no respect for him. That for a man who has served Indian Cricket for almost a decade! You are indeed cruel Sir. And you thought that we Indians would sit quietly while you go along your Mogambo-isque ways of treating people we admire. Well this country is not made of stooges like you. People rose & made you change your stance. You would have realized that whatever goodwill you had in this country has vanished. Remember – you are nothing in this country if you are not respected by your own contrymen. Even a Prime Minister cannot stay if he is disliked – you are not even worth considering Sir. I have a feeling – you will live with the fear of retribution all your life Mr. More. And trust me – the way you have bent down on your knees in front of a foreigner – not many will shed tears on your destined fate. You are indeed a shame on this country for which no amount of retribution would be enough.

My argument in favor on Ganguly cannot end without mention of the attitude of Rahul Dravid, our current skipper. We have always thought of him as a gentleman. Well he is trying to prove otherwise

Mr. Rahul Dravid, the biggest surprise in the whole skit has been your silence. Your attitude towards your own ex-captain smells rotten. Your act of treachery (can’t find another word really) is becoming a folklore story now. You were not ashamed of yourself when the spectators of Kolkatta booed you and your team. A gentleman like you should have been. It is not an honor to be booed by your own countrymen. Is it? Was it too difficult for you to see that Ganguly required support after he was dropped unjustly by selectors? After being a captain in so many matches earlier and after knowing how it affected your own performance – Was it too difficult for you to know that once Ganguly is relieved of his captaincy there is every chance that he will start performing at greater heights? Was it too much for you to at least take Ganguly into confidence when he was picked or especially when he was dropped? Was it too much for us to ask of you? Moreover, was it so difficult for you to go against Mr. Chappell’s dictum of not having Ganguly in the team? Are you scared of him? If yes, we would like to know why. Don’t we deserve an explanation? You were and are one of our great heroes – was it not possible for you to behave like one? Frankly speaking, you are behaving as if you always wanted captaincy and now that you have it – you want your immediate ex-captain to leave the team. How could you get so cruel suddenly? Or were you always like this? Is it too difficult for you to make Ganguly comfortable in the team? Are you actually taking revenge of some kind on Ganguly? Has it got anything to do with Ganguly insisting on you keeping wickets for a year or so? If that is the case – don’t you think “that” move was a blessing in disguise for the team and for your own self? Look at your batting averages when you were not the wicketkeeper of the team and compare it with the period when you indeed kept wickets for India. You will be surprised to know that you had better averages in the period that you kept wickets. You suddenly became aggressive. That was the time when the team was wondering if you were good enough for One-day cricket. Wasn’t it a masterstroke by Ganguly & the think tank to keep you in the side? Don’t you think that Ganguly always wanted you in the team, as you were a master performer? You have bought us joy by the commitment you have shown towards the cause of the team. I could understand Mr. Chappell treating our heroes with contempt – simply because he does not understand Indian culture. I could understand Mr. Kiran More being overawed by Mr. Chappell and neglecting the popular sentiment. In any case Kiran More is not even worth considering – he will be a goner in next few months if not sooner. But you – you are a hero yourself. So why did you stab Ganguly in the back? Why Sir – Why?

Friends, let us not forget that Ganguly has been one of our most successful and celebrated players. As I have said in one of my earlier articles – he is a hero to a lot many. Let us also not forget that he has the best batting average amongst all the long standing captains that we have had in Indian Cricket. We must understand that leading an Indian Cricket side is one of the toughest jobs in the world. This man has done it for many years. He has lived with the pains of losses that India has had to suffer in his stewardship. He has planned and executed for memorable victories in the last 5 years. He has been responsible for backing players whom he trusted – who finally have come good for India. He has to have a very acute and sensible mind on his shoulders to have done all the above. To call this man “mad”, “unfit”, “below standard” and “unprofessional” (as our Coach prefers to call him) is one of biggest farcical injustice that I can imagine. He has now got a chance to forget about the worries of the team, its plans, execution of the plans etc. He can now finally concentrate on his own game. He has started coming good if his two knocks are anything to go by. He should be supported, as millions of cricket fans have done around the country after he was sacked. Give him a series or two. He has scored 15000+ runs in international cricket – he cannot be bad. His form off late has also not been bad either. He should be given a fair chance of proving himself. And since we are on the subject, I must say I doubt if he is going to get fair number of chances. Look at the team management who will pick up eleven players to play in a match. The on-tour management consists of Mr. Greg Chappell, Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur (a well known “Ganguly Basher” – and also the man who has been responsible for cutting short the careers of Mohinder Amarnath, Krish Srikanth, Dilip Vengsarkar etc), Rahul Dravid, Sehwag and one of the “biased” selectors. I think Ganguly will be asked to play in the first practice match. He will then be asked to play in the first Test Match and be dropped from then on (unless Ganguly scores a century in the first match). Or Yuvraj will continue to play in the first two test matches and Ganguly will be drafted in the last Test Match. If Ganguly scores – well there will always be another chance for them to kick him out. But if he fails – it is TATA time for him. In any case the bloodhounds are breathing down his neck to bite him till he is effectively dead! But hey! Life has strange ways of treating bad people and – my gut feeling is that this is a series, which will be remembered for heroics of Ganguly. But as I said above – provided he is given a fair chance.

C’mon Ganguly – do it for us. Do it for your fans. Do it for yourself. But first and foremost do it for these sick stinking gang of “Ganguly Bashers” namely Greg Chappell, Kiran More and Rahul Dravid. Nothing will please us more than to see you hitting boundaries galore in whatever chance you get. Every boundary that you hit will be a hard slap on the faces of these people and that indeed would be fit enough retribution for all the shame that they have put you through.

All the best Sir

Mantosh Singh..
26th December 2005’