If I try to give Saurav ganguly a thumbs down, a certain geoffery Boycott would relegate my efforts under the category titled roobish! Indeed, boycott can take fair credit for ganguly’s popularity, especially in india! The eloquent descriptions of ganguly’s batting, and the tag of ’prince of calcutta’, may not have actually affected ganguly’s technique, but has certainly made ganguly more saleable to the masses! countless of ganguly fans proudly proclaim, ’’...boycott himself calls ganguly the prince of calcutta!’’ If you happen to be one of them, good for all three of you! ganguly has not exactly had a dream run! His batting had been the target of some acid comments early on his career, especially in the ODIs and especially against the quicker bowlers! Slowly, but surely ganguly worked his way towards becoming a better player, and his current form not withstanding, is perhaps at his peak thus far! That he is a master player is something beyond doubt, but what makes him unique among his fellow countrymen is his ability to now step out against even quicker bowlers! His lofted shots are as legendary as his cover-drives, probably the peach of his fan’s eyes! And his domination of the slower bowlers makes him one of the most devastating truths for his opponents, if not removed early on! ganguly, for long had been confined to tendulkar’s shadows and seemed to be destined to remain there for eternity! Thankfully, some better experts have driven home the point that the two are different, and should be treated not on the other’s strengths! Today, ganguly has a following as commanding as tendulkar’s, and his captaincy though under speculation, is probably safe enough at the moment! His doing a soccer in the cricket rooms is another point of contention! The more refined experts(I draw from the entire cricketing world this time), said it was not befitting of the game! Interesting then, that not a peep from most of them over sledging, a very fitting practice! However, others have chosen to proclaim him as his own man, and feel it just showed his passion! whatever, that day he signalled to the world that India is no longer going to be a soft target for hostile attitude! That the team’s performance has been just about decent since then is another story!
ganguly is among the most reliable and destructive openers, and his record seconds that, and that is something which should really matter to him, instead of speculations! That he has scored 19 centuries and on 50 occasions crossed 50 is a good record! And of those 19 centuries, he has scored above 125 on 9 occasions, clearly a man who believes in preserving his wicket! He overall averages 42.33 in ODIs and 40.59 in Tests! perhaps indicative of a conscious effort to be better in the shorter version! for me, that might translate into something of a desire for quicker fame! That he improved his 50-overs-an-innings record so well, but is just average in tests, is not the sign of a player who is truly a student of the game! ganguly can indeed achieve much more! But till then, I ll place him in the good category!