SOURAV GANGULY -THE FALLEN DEITY

Dubbed as 'Captain Snooty' by the British Press, and Prince of Kolkata by fans round the globe, Saurav Ganguly has been India's most successful cricket captain overseas. But he has been facing enormous pressure from all quarters to quit his job with dignity, because of his 'forgotten ways of batting’. The Indian coach Greg Chappell has exactly articulated what has been a murmur growing to a roar in cricket circles in India-Saurav stepdown.
I agree that Ganguly is a batsman of great class and elegance. He has had great success as captain too. He even holds the distinction of standing by the youngsters and helping them to bloom at the highest level. That is why we have had Mohammed Kaif, Harbhjajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh or Sehwag scaling great heights. But let us not forget that all this is distant past. His last notable batting performance in the test was some two years ago, when he hit a majestic 144 against Australia Down Under in November 2003. His recent century against Zimbabwe cannot be counted anywhere since Zimbabwe is not a force to reckon with now. Even his captaincy has not at all shining. It makes a majority of Indians still wonder then, how Ganguly is still in the Indian team? The once called 'god of offside shots' has forgotten where the keeper stands and where the gully fielder fields. His legs have become as fragile as his mind. So there is no footwork at all.
That is why Ganguly who used to dance down the crease to throw bowlers of the calibre of Shane Warne, Muralitharan or Saqlain out of the ground has even forgotten to move his feet an inch or two to adjust himself to the balls directed towards his ribcage.
But amidst all these he still maintains that he wants to be the captain. I wonder if BCCI would have persisted with anyone else who could not deliver goods for two years at the cricketing field. But they have done that with Ganguly. The Maharaja of Kolkata' has literally hijacked the BCCI, thanks to his godfather Jagmohan Dalmiya, a completely wrong man in a right field.

The present row between Ganguly and Chappell is nothing but a means by the media used by Ganguly to gather sympathy of the public. One should not wonder if he continues to stay in the team as captain up to the next World Cup with regular contributions of zeroes and single digit runs.

Ganguly has proved that even the break that he got did not do any change in him and his batting. So it is the right time to say good-bye to him. If he still continues to lead India, resting on his past achievements and laurels, he is going to ruin Team India. He has already played a major role in spoiling the image of cricket in India, when his now-famous bare chest exposure from the stands of Lords, after India won the final of the Nat West Trophy in July 2003. Greg Chappell's policy that only the performers should remain in the team should first be applied to Saurav.
But if he is sacked, then it is a pity that he could not read the signs of time or the writing on the wall. In India no one is a perennial leader nor anyone an eternal criminal. If Nathuram Godse could become a hero and Mahatma Gandhi a villain, why not uncle Ganguly be called villains as his 'heroics' are over the hill? It is time to call it a day when he is still adored and hailed lest he will be dethroned and nailed!