A Decade of Partnership!!!

On the 20th of June, 2006, two Indians will be celebrating a decade of their involvement with Indian cricket. ‘Celebrating’ is a word that should be used with some disparity as only one of the two will actually be doing what the word literally means. The other might be cooling his heels in his room. One is now doing the toughest job in Indian cricket, the other has already ‘been there, done that’. But, the contribution that both has done for the good of Indian cricket can never be over-looked, irrespective of whether the person in question is in the Indian team or not.

Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid both made their test debut against England at the ‘Mecca of Cricket’, Lords a decade back. Dravid’s entry in the Indian team was very much expected. But the Prince of Kolkata’s (then Calcutta) selection sent a few eyebrows rising and a few tongues wagging. As a 20-year-old, Ganguly had already disappointed in his ODI debut scoring just three against the Windies in 1991-92.

So, while Dravid needed to justify the faith shown in him by the selectors and supporters, Ganguly had a bigger ask to prove his critics wrong and silence them once and for all. And both the 24-year-olds delivered and how! The man from Kolkata scored 131 sublime runs but the Bangalorean was unlucky to miss a century on debut like his partner-in-debut, by just five runs. Both the youngsters had loudly announced their arrival in international cricket. From there on, there was no looking back, at least until recently in one case. Dada’s and Dravid’s career graph complimented the form they displayed. No one dared to doubt their abilities. “On the offside, first there is God and then there is Sourav Ganguly”, commented Dravid about Ganguly’s ability to time and pierce the ball through the off-side with a precision of a surgeon. Meanwhile, Dravid’s class and technique drew him comparisons with the great Sachin Tendulkar. While Ganguly was aggressive in his approach, Dravid was the accumulator who put a price tag on his wicket.

Both though, had their fair share of downs as well. Dravid was considered a liability in the shorter form of the game. Ganguly’s ‘problems in personal life’ affected his on-field performance as well. But like in their debut match, they fought out of the crisis themselves. The two, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, became the saving grace of Indian Cricket after the match-fixing scandal. The Prince was made the King of Indian Cricket. But assuming the captaincy was like sitting on a throne of thorns with the match-fixing scandal still ripe in the minds of the people. Cricket’s popularity was at its lowest. Every match India won or lost was a ‘fixed match’. Ganguly, pitched in for young blood in the squad and the results were almost immediate. Dravid was made his deputy, yet the latter’s place in the ODI squad was in serious doubt.

In order to accommodate more batsmen, Ganguly forced Dravid to don the ‘keeper’s gloves. Dravid, not a natural wicket-keeper, was not too comfortable with the job but, the skipper had the last say. And Dravid in the long run benefited as his batting in ODIs improved vastly, a fact that he himself acknowledged. It was a dawn of a new era as far as Indian cricket was concerned with Ganguly at the helm and Dravid supporting him ably. The trio of Ganguly, Dravid and coach John Wright worked with perfection producing amazing results, thus laying the ghost of match-fixing to rest once and for all.

As a captain, Ganguly became some one who looked at the opposition in the eye and dared to challenge them. Most didn’t like it too much! He himself admitted once, that he might be the ‘most hated captain in world cricket.’ India was no longer at the receiving end of sledging. A scene that will remain forever etched in the memory of many Indian fans will be that of the bare-chested dance performed by Ganguly at the Lords balcony in 2002 as a payback to Flintoff’s jig at Wankhede. School-boyish attitude one might say! Well, that’s what made him click with the youngsters in the side and made India from an ‘also-rans’ to a real winning squad that was only a couple of steps behind to challenge the mighty Australians. One of the reasons India won that Natwest Final was because of Dravid’s sacrifice to become a wicket-keeper in order to accommodate the likes of Kaif and Yuvraj. Most tend to forget Dravid’s contribution to many such Indian victories under Ganguly’s regime.

Ganguly’s slump in form was followed by his sack as the captain and then, also as a player. His deputy and a long time friend Dravid now took over the mantle of leading a side.

If Ganguly had to deal with the ghost of match-fixing when he took over, Dravid had to deal with the ghost of Ganguly, which in a way continues to haunt him till date. But Dravid proved to be a worthy successor as his team is proving now! Dravid is reaping the benefits of the seeds (read Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Pathan) that Ganguly had sown.