Saurav Ganguly was born in Calcutta (now called Kolkata)to a wealthy business class family. His father Chandidas Ganguly was and still is a leading business man in the printing business in Calcutta. Apart from his elder brother Snehashish Ganguly who also captained and played for Bengal with such distinction there was no sporting tradition in the Ganguly family.
For some one who is such a talented cricketer it would come as a surprise that Cricket was not his first love. Like all people who live in Calcutta, Ganguly’s first love was Football. But like most Indian kids he had to make the difficult choice between academics and sport and his parents weren’t very supportive of the idea of Saurav taking up Cricket or any sport as a career.
But Saurav was to have none of it and his elder brother Snehashish Ganguly being an established cricketer for Bengal only strengthened his resolve to be a cricketer even further and he asked his father to get him enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during his class ten holidays.
Saurav would have been just another right-handed batsman had it not been for his brother Snehashish who also was a left-hander. And what a loss that would have been for cricket fans around the world if he had chosen to bat right handed as the world would never have witnessed the artistry of this elegant South Paw. Convenience was the only reason for Saurav to bat left handed as he could then use his brother’s cricket gear.
For a young man who used his brother’s cricket gear during practice it was indeed quite ironical that he replaced brother Snehashish when he was dropped from the Bengal cricket team. And thus began a glorious cricketing career.
Saurav Ganguly smashed a superb hundred for East Zone against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy in 1991 and that spectacular innings earned him a berth on the plane on the tour of Australia in 1991. But unfortunately he was played in just one match against the West Indies at Brisbane and unfortunately he failed. He was not selected for the World Cup in 1992 and was sent back home.
Apart from being dropped there were rumors that Saurav had attitude problems and he showed disrespect towards his senior team members. There were also reports in certain sections of the media that he had refused to carry drinks for a famous cricketer. He was branded as arrogant and a man with absolutely no cricketing talent. He was ignored for well over four years and many thought that his days as an international cricketer were numbered.It was to Saurav’s credit that he did not allow these allegations to affect him mentally and he sorted all his problems on his own with the help of an English rugby league sports psychologist.
Ganguly continued to play for East Zone and Bengal and also played for India A team whenever required, but the India Cap was still eluding him. But things took a sweet turn for him during the summer of 1996 as he was selected in the 16 member Indian squad to tour England amidst a lot of criticism as many expected Mumbai Vinod Kambli to be in the team as he had performed well. There was talk that Ganguly had been selected due to the evil ’quota’ system.
Saurav wasn’t selected for the first test in Edgbaston, which India lost but he was the automatic choice for the no.3 slot for his debut test at Lords as Navjot Singh Sidhu returned to India in a huff after a misunderstanding with Captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Sanjay Manjrekar having got injured. And what a debut it turned out to be as Ganguly scored a brilliant hundred. His innings of 131 included 20 glorious hits to the fence making the Aussie legend Richie Benaud who was commentating on air at the moment say that it was the best he saw any left hander strike the ball through the off side after Greame Pollock.
Saurav scored another hundred in the following test match at Trentbridge. Ganguly scored 136 in a superb 255 run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar who scored a masterly 177.
Ganguly was now firmly embedded in the Indian team.
Saurav is now revered in Calcutta and he enjoys a God like status. But that is the price one has to pay for being a celebrity in India. He also understands why people love him so much and that is because Indians and especially people from Bengal are extremely emotional and they have never had a local cricketer who has achieved such dizzy heights as Saurav has. If Saurav is at home and people come to know about it there is a huge crowd that gathers at the gate of his palatial home.
As likeable and adorable as he is Saurav also has been firm enough to let overbearing fans and prying media persons know that he deserves and needs his share of privacy. He is happily married to his childhood sweet heart Donna who is an Odissi dancer and he would prefer a quiet evening alone with her rather than have photographers and lensmen chasing him all over Calcutta. He is also a deeply religious person and observes a fast every Tuesday.
The man who was snubbed 4 years ago is today the Indian Captain.
It is indeed very funny and extremely ironic that the man who everybody thought was arrogant, high handed and disrespectful towards senior team members was suddenly lauded as a hero after a couple of great knocks. Along with Sachin Tendulkar he has gone on to form one of the most successful opening pairs in One Day international Cricket.
He is also referred to as ’the golden arm’ in the Indian team as his gentle medium pace bowling has given India many a vital breakthrough in one day cricket. In Test matches he, Rahul Dravid along with the great Tendulkar today form the core of the Indian batting line up.
Today Ganguly has become the Indian Captain after taking over the reigns from his predecessor Sachin Tendulkar. After not being very successful at his job during the early months, he led India to a landmark test series win over world champions Australia. Saurav wasn’t very successful as a batsman but his captaincy came in for high praise particularly the manner in which he aggressively dealt with the Australians both on the field and off it. Their tactic off getting under his skin back fired and by the end of the series it was clearly evident that it was Ganguly who had gotten under the skin of Steve Waugh and company. In the year or so that he has captained India Saurav has shown that he has not been afraid to speak his mind and that is what has been so refreshing about his leadership qualities.
Having faced rejection and discrimination because he hailed from a very low profile Cricket zone he very well understands the trials and tribulations that a youngster has to go through before establishing himself in international cricket. No wonder he gave a piece of his mind to the board when he hinted that constant changing and chopping of the side does not help and its high time there was a sense of stability to the team.
Whether he makes it as one of the best Captains of all time only time will tell. But one thing is certain Saurav Ganguly will certainly be more transparent in his Captaincy style compared to other cricket captains.