Finally on a national television, Ganguly’s outburst on Dravid’s captaincy skills found its way. This certainly ends up the speculation that ‘All was well’ between two of the best cricketing minds of recent times. It seems, the great urge for not leaving a single opportunity in bashing his long time good friend & mentor Greg Chappel has just over did it this time! Perhaps, Chappel being a consultant to save the aura less Australian side against strong Indian batting line up and remarks over Ganguly’s captaincy style in his biography played as provocative factors, and he carried away in the tsunami of words and ended up saying something, which he should not have uttered at least at this juncture.
While Kambli who blamed former Indian skipper Azhar for finishing his career over his knowhow of match fixing mole, Ganguly’s recent statement alleges Dravid for not having guts to go against Chappel and supporting his teammates. Further, Kambli’s allegations are on more than a decade old story and thus are least bothering for current players, whereas, Ganguly’s revelations are against someone who is in excellent form, on a very important tour and most importantly against Rahul Dravid, who is known for giving 110% while on field. Therefore, despite of little or more fact it may have, Ganguly’s comments are bound to draw negative attention for him for perfectly wrong timing. In a rare case and fortunately for him, media has acted responsibly this time and hasn’t gone haywire sensationalizing his remarks.
It appears, ever since this former skipper has recommended Chappel as a coach for the national side, his life has become nightmarish. The famous spat with Chappel not only took away the captaincy from Dada but also kept him out of business for considerable time. That has left the Ganguly furious and the volcano of his anger still erupting lava. As written by Chappel himself in his biography, Ganguly wanted to manage the team on his terms and that created rift between the good relations of two. Indeed, favoritism and groupism were also prevalent in an Indian team as the players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan were enjoying benefits of being favourite to aggressive and successful skipper. Perhaps in a harsh way, but the Aussie mentor insisted for much better disciplinary standards which required players to live their comfort zone. As known to all of us that dominating nature was the reason for Chappel’s cut short stint with Indian team.
However, Ganguly himself cannot claim to have clean hands as a captain under Chappel. If he blames Dravid for being not supportive to his team mates, what was he doing when the careers of two extremely talented players were being spoiled under his captaincy? Perhaps, it was difficult and altogether too much to expect from an individual like Dravid to deal with the likes of Greg, but, flamboyant Ganguly, who is known for swimming against the tide and minces no words could certainly have saved careers by opposing the strategy of coach Greg. Therefore, he himself needs to do the soul’s search and give out the honest answers of few questions. 1) Was not he supposed to intervene when Irfan Pathan was forced to be a batsman, which resulted in to losing his bowling form, skills and place in the team? 2) Why did not he support Md. Kaif who rarely got to bat at the positions he fits the best? We all know classical batter like Kaif was forced to bat during the slog phase, which is completely contradictory to his batting style.
The presence and approach of coach Greg not only haunted Ganguly, but it also affected Dravid, as he not only lost captaincy post infamous 2007 world cup but also lost his place in ODIs and most importantly form. Thus, Ganguly’s recent outburst against Greg Chappel is just a reflection of past Indian team lived. Further, his intentional/ unintentional comments over other’s role during Chappel’s time are unwanted and meaningless. Wouldn’t we all want to see our beloved ‘Kolkata Tiger’ to live a life beyond ‘Chapter – Greg Chappel’ and maintain the dignity and stature he has gained?
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