Ganguly or not?

Rahul’s waiting’. Or is he really? Forget the Hutch line for a moment, is time really running out for Brand Saurav? At least, statistics seem to bear this out.
When he took over as captain in ’00, Indian cricket was in disarray following the match-fixing crisis.
You may call me a Saurav-fanatic, you may call me anything you want to but the truth remains that Saurav Ganguly took over the Indian cricket team when it was in shatters and made it what it is.

His fans, like me say “Lies, damn lies and statistics.” For one series does not a career unmake, and that too of India’s most successful captain. But then, Ganguly’s most fervent supporter will also admit that his performance has been below par for quite some time.

And I admit as well but then think about it this way.

“Against Sachin, who is always judged on his individual performance, Saurav is evaluated on the team’s performance. Brand Sourav is all about aggression and attitude which has become the hallmark of this team,”
Now, what say?

However, his sponsors are not ready to desert him just yet. It appears that as long as he captains Team India, Ganguly’s individual performance is secondary.


“So what?” one of the sponsors says. “He still wins matches. And that’s all what sponsors and cricket buffs are concerned about.”
Or is it? Well, of course it is. Who cares how many runs Sehwag or Sachin or Dravid have scored, if at the end of the day India doesn’t win? At least I don’t and neither do I see any of you caring…I hope I’m right!

Besides, if statistics are the demand of his critics then I hope this helps:
Under his leadership, India reached the final of World Cup ’03, two finals of the ICC championships, held the all-conquering Aussies to a 1-1 draw in Australia and above all, beat Pakistan in Pakistan.

PS. An article in economics times inspired me to write this and I have quoted lines from that article.