For captain, rules are meant to be bent

To those who’ve followed Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy, Thursday’s incident in Bulawayo wasn’t much of a surprise. After al...

To those who’ve followed Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy, Thursday’s incident in Bulawayo wasn’t much of a surprise. After all, he’s been pushing the boundaries of cricket’s traditions almost since his first toss of the coin.

And that’s when he’s not actually breaking the rules governing over-rates! Indeed, The Prince of Kolkata has the ability to confound teammates as much as opponents. If his turning up late for the toss upset Steve Waugh’s rhythm, his last-minute opting out of the Nagpur Test against Australia last year didn’t endear him to his teammates.

His public inclusion of Nehra in the side the day after his vice-captain had ruled him out due to injury during the Pakistan tour is another case in point. It was explained as a communication gap between the captain and vice-captain and if Dravid was seething, Inzamam was mystified.

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But that’s the man for you. He lives on the edge, for that is the only way he knows to push himself. He has not achieved what he has — 48 Tests, 20 won — by staying within the bounds of what is acceptable. That is for the stuffed shirts at Lord’s, whose eyeballs he caused to pop out when he stripped off his own shirt three years ago.

But to see Ganguly merely as arrogant and perverse — and cussed — is to miss the point, and miss out on the better qualities of the man, maddening and infuriating though he is. For the same person who has reservations playing under Rahul Dravid happily played under Rohan Gavaskar for Bengal in a Ranji match last season.

And this is, don’t forget, the same person who sacrificed his highly successful ODI opener’s role for Virender Sehwag; he is now seen as the man blocking Mohammad Kaif’s Test career.

Amid all the contradictions, though, there is one inalienable truth to Ganguly: He is a fighter, prepared to scrap for his due. If he believes he deserves to keep the captaincy, it will take some persuasion to get him to change his mind — and a series win in Zimbabwe will only add to his armoury.

THE STATUS REPORT

		Who’s left where after the Bulawayo Bombshell Greg Chappell: A step back. The hard talk probably worked among Aussie cricketers but Indians are probably a little more used to kid gloves. Chappell has seen out-of-form captains dropping themselves — Mike Denness in the Ashes series of 1974-75 — but it doesn’t happen in India. Now Ganguly and Chappell will have a testy, temporary relationship. The dressing room’s getting too small for both of them. Sourav Ganguly: Was advised by Ravi Shastri to step down as skipper and work on his batting. But realised if he went as captain, his career as a player was over. Has factional support in the team — Harbhajan and Nehra are known to prefer him — and in the media. Ironically, India’s ‘‘most non-parochial’’ captain may have to fall back on sectional support, including from the most powerful man in the BCCI. Rahul Dravid: Not into team politics, but realises if he doesn’t become captain this season, he probably never will. Knows who ‘‘Saurav’s boys’’ are, prefers the company of Anil Kumble. The coach seems to get along better with the correct Dravid than with a captain who misses press conferences because of his wife’s birthday. Virender Sehwag: Joker in the pack. A north Indian lobby would prefer Ganguly survives as captain, so that, by 2006-07, it’s too late to replace him with Dravid — who’s already 32. Sehwag can then take over. The only other GenNext cricketer seen as captaincy material is Kaif, and he’s not in the team because Ganguly’s in it. Coincidence? Conspiracy? Choose. — Ashok Malik

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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