Letter of the Day

Aggressive captaincy

"Aggressive" is the most bandied word of Indian scribes when describing Ganguly's captaincy. The strutting gait, the in-your-face sledging, the wild gesticulation on the field, the shrill humiliation of erring colleagues on the field are all mistaken for aggression. Ganguly really is a very conservative, stubborn captain not kindly inclined to accepting suggestions from his colleagues or coach.

Like Tendulkar before him, Ganguly believes that his pace attack has all the answers, even if it is just a pop gun. The macho image, self created, cannot see him departing from the theory of blasting the opposition into submission through pace. Not for him the subtlety of spin-India's best weapon!

Aggressive captaincy is all about using your best weapons, creating pressure on the opposition and luring them to defeat through disciplined effort on the field.To do this one has to analyse the strength & weakness of the opposition, use the right bowlers, set the right field and persevere with the strategy with discipline. The cracks are bound to appear. This is what Hussain has done so successfully. He has got into the mind of the Indian players and worked out what makes them tick and attacked accordingly. He has got Tendulkar frustrated, Ganguly fishing outside the off stump, Dravid ultra defensive with some clever use of bowlers and field placing. His batsmen have attacked the insipid Indian pace bowling and put India on the defensive.

Ganguly on the other hand seems bereft of ideas and repeatedly falls back on the mediocre pace of Khan, Nehra & Agarkar to give him deliverance. While Khan has maintained some discipline the other two have their antennas facing the wrong direction! Alternately Kumble & Harbhajan have been used in the Tests, never in tandem, so there is never any pressure on the English batsmen with spin at both ends.

Ganguly should realise that India has two world class spinners who could exploit situations better against the English not noted for playing spin than three mediocre pacemen , who are fodder for the batsmen reared on such bowling! How this simple equation escapes him is a matter of concern. India has another world class spinner in Murli Kartik languishing because he doesn't find favour with either Ganguly or the selectors for reasons best known to them. By being pig headed the concerned people, denying Kartik an opportunity, are not serving India's interest.A very famous Australian cricketer/commentator in a private dinner stated that Kartik has what other Indian bowlers don't- ticker(heart)!

Ganguly's short comings as a captain are not highlighted in the One dayers where run scoring is to be restricted as in the Tests, where 20 wickets have to be taken to win!

So critics should redefine the word "aggressive" when alluding to Ganguly. While it is all right to "cock a snout" at the opposition to show that India cannot be taken lying down, more is needed to be done in terms of planning ,strategy, selection and discipline for getting favourable outcomes.

Every body these days is on the back of Tendulkar for not scoring enough. Understandably, the English press would like to create pressure on the one man who could destroy their attack. What about the Indian press? Has it ever bothered to think that if the bowlers don't take wickets even the best batsman in the history of Test cricket can not win a match off his own bat?

The scribes, instead, should be questioning the ability of Indian bowlers to win matches overseas!

Dilip Mahanty