His failure as captain in T20 cricket stems from the fact that there has been an alternative power centre in the teams he has captained. This power centre has been created by the Aussies, be it in the Kolkata Knight Riders or the Pune Warriors. The Aussies have never been able to accept Saurav and his forthrightness, before or now. In the Kolkata Knight Riders it was quite evident that Shahrukh Khan did not give Saurav the required backing and instead sided with the Aussie camp. In case of the Pune Warriors too it seems that Subroto Roy is going the same way.
The problem with Saurav is that he believes only one style of captaincy - my way or go away. But then , it is possibly the only style of captaincy that wins matches. The captain needs the full support of his team management to be successful. If necessary the team management needs to back tough decisions that the captain may take. Saurav, as captain of various T20 teams, has quite evidently not got the required support.
It is quite fair that Saurav, who was being lauded when the team was winning should also be castigated when the team is losing. But that does not mean he should be made scapegoat for all that is wrong in the team. Look at the Deccan Charges. They are even below the Pune Warriors in the points table. But no one is making Sangakara a scapegoat.
Players in the Pune Warriors team are not even performing at a minimum level. No one, not even Steve Smith, has performed anything remotely near expectations.
Re: Re: Re: Saurav and his captaincy style - III
by Hagemaru on May 14, 2012 09:12 AM
Chuodav Gandoongly deserves a place for carrying watterbottles on the field.
Saurav's greatest asset as captain was that he backed his players. Laxman was able to finally fulfill his promise because of the support that Saurav gave him. He brought in and backed players like Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag who went on to become instrumental in India's subsequent rise in world cricket. He was helped by the fact that he had players like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble playing at the prime of their careers like he himself.
Most importantly he ensured that selections were made purely on the basis of merit and never on regional considerations.
India, under Saurav, began to win abroad. In England, in Australia, in Pakistan. The team was runners up in the World Cup 2003. After Australia, arguably at the time one of the greatest cricket sides of all time, India was the best side in the world - no mean feat.
Saurav's problems as captain came with the decline in the fortunes of Jagmohan Dalmiya. Dalmiya's camp lost in the BCCI elections. At around this point of time Greg Chappell came in as coach of the Indian team. Kiran More became chairman of selectors. Rahul Dravid was also by now aspiring to become captain. Together they humiliated and hounded Saurav, first stripping him from the captaincy, and then dropping him from the team.
How Saurav fought back from the wilderness to come back into the team speaks volumes of the resilience and character of the man. He never took anything kying down. He fought. He won.
Re: Saurav and his captaincy style - II
by Rick Shaw on May 14, 2012 07:29 AM
Instead of writing such long comments defending Ganguly & his captaincy...first think about him as a player. He is just not T20 player batting or fielding wise. Him scoring at 100 - 110% strike rate is not enough that too when you consume 30 to 40 balls (if he survives initial 10 deliveries). He was good for ODI as it gave time to settle down & in ODI top batsman did not require to hit big shots. He just doesn't deserve a place in playing 11 & one can not be in the team only based on captaincy skills!!!
Re: Saurav and his captaincy style - II
by raj r on May 14, 2012 09:34 AM
i agree. dada should be made to lead KKR next yera. A great captain can't be left unused.
The Pune Warriors team now seems totally purposeless. The brouhaha over Saurav Ganguly has not really helped the team.
It cannot be that Saurav is has become a bad captain overnight. At the beginning of the tournament, when Pune Warriors had one a few matches everyone was raving about his captaincy and fighting spirit. What has actually gone wrong ?
The problem with Saurav is that he is a very strong captain. He believes that as captain he is the one who has to take the final decision on all matters regarding the team. Who will play and who will not. What role will be played by whom.
The thing is that when he was made captain of the Indian cricket team, it was going through a very bad phase. A recent captain of the side had just been banned on allegations of match fixing. The next captain had just led the side to a few disastrous defeats away and at home and had literally begged to be relieved of the captaincy. At this point of time no one wanted to take the responsibility. Saurav did.
He was fortunate that at this point of time John Wright came in as coach. He let Saurav do his job as captain, while he worked on the technical and mental sides of the team.
Saurav was also fortunate that at this point of time the head of BCCI was Jagmohan Dalmiya, who also belonged to the same state as Saurav and was also his mentor. In fact Saurav owed his original selection to the national side to Dalmiya. He had a free run as captain, and this worked wonders for the side.
