The leading question

True nobility lies in being superior to your former self. It does not matter what other people say about you. What is important is what you ...

True nobility lies in being superior to your former self. It does not matter what other people say about you. What is important is what you say to yourself. Never be ashamed of doing what you think is right.

Never get into the petty habit of measuring your worth against that of others. Every second you spend thinking about someone else8217;s dreams, you take time away from your own.

That8217;s the note Sourav Ganguly has pinned to the inside of his kit bag. He sees it when he goes out to bat, he sees it when he returns; he sees it several times a day.

On Tuesday, he leads his team out for possibly the most crucial Test series of his career. It8217;s an interesting situation; whatever the team does, the captain will be judged on his personal contribution. More than ever before, the onus is on him to deliver.

Tuesday morning, those words will have greater meaning.

For what it8217;s worth, talking heads back home believe the solution is simple: Ganguly needs to compartmentalise things. Concentrate on batting and the captaincy issue will be taken care of by itself.

8216;8216;Captaincy is a separate issue,8217;8217; says former India opener and coach Anshuman Gaekwad. 8216;8216;The first thing he has to make sure is he does not mix these two things together.8217;8217; Gaekwad feels that all of this might be distracting the skipper right now but he has to stand there in the middle and get down to the business of scoring.

8216;8216;He8217;s created a mental block for himself8217;8217;, says Navjyot Singh Sidhu. 8216;8216;He8217;s trying to hit his way out of trouble. That8217;s not done. He8217;s got to work his way out of it.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

He points out that Ganguly has in the past managed to convert his disaster to triumph and has no doubt that he can do it once again.

8216;8216;If it8217;s the short ball, work on it. It8217;s like a chronic plague and he8217;s got to be his own doctor here,8217;8217; says Sidhu.

The problem in that is that, technically, Ganguly has always been found wanting. His statistics 8212; 10,000 ODI runs, for example 8212; probably seem more impressive given that he is technically flawed. The rot, say experts, stem from his feet 8212; or his lack of movement.

8216;8216;There are technical problems8217;8217;, agrees former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar. 8216;8216;Bowlers targeting his rib cage, his difficulty to play the rising delivery8230; But regardless of this, the runs have to come.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

Before the Indian team left for Zimbabwe, Ganguly made a rare comment on the captaincy issue: 8216;8216;With Rahul Dravid around, there is always going to be a debate.8217;8217; He has 10 match-days to close the debate.

Testing times for Sourav Ganguly

8226; Ganguly has not scored a century in 22 Test innings, since his 144 at Brisbane in 2003-04

8226; He8217;s crossed 50 five times and 25 twice

8226; In the past two years, 17 of his dismissals have been out caught, mostly either square or behind the wicket

CAN8217;T WRITE HIM OFF

	nbsp;	*After his every slump, Ganguly has risen* 2001-2002 The slump: 8226; After the winning the first Test, India go down at Harare. Two-Test series ends in a disappointing 1-1 draw. Ganguly8217;s Series Avg: 4.06 8226; After that rare away win in the second Test, India lose the final Test. Lanka win three-Test series 2-1. Ganguly8217;s series Avg: 33.20 8226; Second straight away loss. Indian batsmen fail on bouncy pitches once again. South Africa win the two-Test series 1-0. Ganguly8217;s Series Avg: 30.00 8226; Written off before the series Nasser Hussain8217;s men suprise everyone. India just about manage to win three-Test home series against England 1-0 Ganguly8217;s seires Avg: 22.66 The rising 8226; Wins the home series against Zimbabwe 2-0. Ganguly8217;s Series Avg: 64.66 2002 The slump: 8226; India struggle to beat a depleted WI at home. Wins four-match series 2-0 Ganguly8217;s seires Avg: 12.25 8226; Whitewash in the away series against New Zealand. 8226; A total batting flop India lose 2-0 Ganguly8217;s series Avg: 7.25 The rising: 8226; First Tests against New Zealand at Ahmedabad Ganguly scores 100 in first Test 2005 The slump 8226; Pakistan fightback to level the three-Test series 1-1. Ganguly8217;s run sequence 21, 12, 12, 1, 2. Ganguly8217;s series Avg: 9	nbsp;