Sourav Ganguly "Prince of Calcutta" ?!
A look back at Sourav Ganguly's tenure as Captain
This Bengali is the most high profile Captains in India's near history. He whips his shirt off and dances and has a statement to make after every match - no matter we win or lose. Though he has one of the best win - loss percentages of any of the Indian Captains, none of the victories came as a result of his leadership alone. The high concentration of talented players in the team and some level headed players like Dravid and Sachin have time and again brought home sweet victories.If the statistics of the past two years were to be considered, Ganguly would find it hard to find a place in India's first 15. But luck has been with him - whether a series victory in Pakistan or a face saving ODI victory in Bangladesh. And some heavy support from the BCCI.
He is a far cry from talented and aggressive thinking captains like Ricky Ponting who knows how to lead from the front, and a has a never say die attitude. Just being aggressive on and off the field is not enough - you have to provide leadership when the team needs it.
The pathetic way the star studded Asian XI team lost to World XI in the tsunami appeal match under Sourav's captaincy was just another example of his failures. For him just playing is good enough. And if the team wins, the better!
Virendra Sehwag
No one will call him "Li'l Tendulkar" again!
The Australian commentators who were reporting on the first match of the tsunami cricket series were going gaga over the fact that they could see Sehwag opening the Asian XI innings with Jayasurya. He didn't disappoint anyone even though the players were under tremendous pressure as no team in cricket history had made a successful run chase of 345. He hit a powerful and entertaining 48 before being caught at the boundary.The innings and especially the dismissal, which was almost a carbon-copy of the way in which Warne took Sehwag's wicket in the Boxing Day Test of 2003, brought two facts back to the forefront. The first being Virendra Sehwag is no more just a 'duplicate' Tendulkar - but someone who can be as good or better than any of the top class batsmen in the world. The second being he is just as inclined as any other Indian batsman to throw away the wickets cheaply due to sudden adrenaline rushes - going for sixes at a time when sensible batting is the need of the hour.
But again if he doesn't do that - he is not Sehwag, right? After all, he is the only Indian who got to his 200 with the help of a sixer.