Sports India

Sourav Ganguly’s criticism should not be reduced to a drawing room debate. When any cricketer raises a pertinent point or highlights a problem, it should be considered in all seriousness.

And when somebody as successful as Ganguly alleges that the administrators are playing with the careers of cricketers, it’s a serious matter.

Any democratic set-up should be transparent in its functioning and everyone should have the right to voice his concerns. Ganguly has been gutsy enough in speaking out about the ills that afflict Bengal cricket and the bankruptcy of thought in the corridors of power.

Very few people in Indian cricket have the courage to do that. In fact, we should appreciate his guts and hope that others would also come forward.

One should not read too much into the timing of Ganguly’s e-mail, which has come in the run-up to the CAB elections. Rather, we should look at the essence of his statement. It clearly hints at the rot that has set in Bengal cricket
and a lot needs to be done to set it right.

Whichever faction wins the CAB election, will have to sit down with the members and do some soul-searching in a bid to solve matters. It is the job of the administrators to work towards popularising the game.

But, that is just one half of the job. The other half entails looking after the welfare of cricketers. To run a clean and efficient administration, the interests of the players can’t be ignored.

No player, whether it’s Sachin or Sourav, is bigger than the game. The same applies to administrators. Unfortunately, some of them don’t think so. They tend to take their jobs too seriously and in the process have developed big egos.

For any cricket body to function impartially, it should have a healthy mix of cricketers and non-cricketers running the show. Cricketing matters should be dealt by only cricketers while the day-to-day affairs should be managed by the administrators.

It is interesting to note that in Bengal cricket no player so far has ever become the secretary or president of CAB.

To allege that administrators have played with the career of cricketers is a serious issue, and no player would dare to level such charges without a very good reason. Obviously, Ganguly had a solid reason before he made those charges against Dalmiya.

A player should be judged on the basis of his performance on the field and not what he does off it. It is sad that dirty politics has disrupted the career of a competent player like Ganguly.

Sourav Ganguly`s county stint appears to be drawing to a disappointing close with the former Indian captain scoring just nine for Northamptonshire in a four-day County championship division two cricket match against Essex.

Ganguly struck two fours off 11 balls before he was caught by Ben Phillip off James Middlebrook on the opening day of the match at Northants` home ground.

Opener Stephen Peters was unbeaten on 106 with captain D Sales at 31 as the hosts reached 209 for three in 59 overs in their first innings after electing to bat.

Zaheer Khan also met with similar luck as his former captain, going wicketless in his 11-over spell while conceding 33 runs for Worcestershire in a match against Derbyshire.

Derbyshire were 214 for 6 in 61 overs in their first innings after electing to bat on the opening day at Queen`s Park in Chesterfield.

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When DNA was being conceptualised, one of the first decisions taken was to have different sections for the paper, including one for sports.

Conventional wisdom in such matters decreed that two pages for sport was very good, three extraordinary and four foolhardy. Six pages seemed utter madness. But the publishers were clear: Let’s break the rules.

In the year since we launched, DNA Sport has taken that advice more seriously than perhaps any other department in the paper, setting benchmarks that we believe will change the face of sports journalism in India.

And not just in the fact that almost every mainline paper in the country today has 5 or 6 pages dedicated to sports. We promise to break more rules.

Sourav Ganguly may have lost his captaincy and a place in the Indian team after a spat with current coach Greg Chappell, but it has now transpired that even previous coach John Wright favoured his sacking.

Wright has let out some sensational inside information regarding his much-speculated relationship with Ganguly and controversial selection decisions in his new book “Indian Summers”, released in New Zealand on Thursday.

“As much as I respect Ganguly and acknowledge his record as captain and his contribution to Indian cricket, I believe there were sound arguments for a change in leadership towards the end of my stint,” Wright writes in his book.

Admitting a fallout with Ganguly towards the end of his stint with the Indian team, the former New Zealand skipper has said there were times when the Bengal batsman might have also wanted a change of coach.

“There might well have been times when he favoured a change of coach. What really mattered was that the two of us saw the bigger picture, worked as a partnership to provide leadership on and off the field and got results. In that last season, though, the results dried up.”

Wright also says that it was Ganguly who masterminded the appointment of Sunil Gavaskar as consultant for India’s home series against Australia in 2004-05 without taking him into confidence.

“Two days before the first Test (at Bangalore, against Australia in 2004), I was notified that Gavaskar would be joining us as a batting consultant,” he writes.

“I couldn’t work out how it had happened. Gavaskar solved the mystery by revealing at a team meeting that he had a text message from Ganguly. I was far from happy because as the head coach I should have had the final say on support staff issues,” Wright writes.

“…if the captain decides to bring someone into the camp two days from a Test against the best team in the world, there’s not a hell of a lot you can do about it.”

Wright also says he was frustrated during selection committee meetings which were nothing short of a farce.

“The first six or seven selections were straightforward. But when it got down to the marginal selections, those last three or four spots that determine the balance of the team and your ability to develop new players, the zonal factor came in and things would get interesting,” he said.

“It was easy to tell when the selectors had come to a meeting with an agenda… If their boys weren’t picked, they tended to cross their arms, clam up and take no further part in the meeting,” he writes.

Wright said VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif bore the brunt of the selectors’ whims.

“Laxman and Kaif are examples of outstanding performers who always seemed to be only one or two failures away from having their places questioned.”

In another context, Wright says Kaif had rubbed then England skipper Nasser Hussain the wrong way through his overzealous conduct during one of the matches.

“Kaif had managed to get under Hussain’s skin… He clearly bugged Hussain when England were in India and during the game at Durham, he had a real go at Kaif telling him to shut up and calling him a bus driver.”

Wright says there is still a reluctance in India to take tough decisions against the superstars.

“The exceptions are the superstars. There’s still reluctance to give an under-performing or unfocused big name a blunt message by having him sit out of a tour or a few one-dayers.”

Wright also defends his approach to the job, saying that he was cautious never to put his opinion on team composition and players’ performance in writing, fearing that his views might be leaked to the media.

He also denies that he was soft with the players. “That was simply not the case. I had tried everything, including banging my fists and being hard-nosed and whenever the president or selectors sought my opinion, they got it without any equivocation or sugar coating. One thing I chose not to do was argue my case in public,” he said.

A Kolkata-based snack food company has just signed an additional emissary for a product that until now was former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly’s domain.

Till the other day, children were crunching Pogo Potato Chips because the iconic Prince of Kolkata set the example. Now Shaktimaan will be promoting the product.

“There are many companies that are still using Sourav. I don’t think other companies have removed him. There are still ads of Sourav Ganguly. But, yes, if someone has, that company has done a wrong thing. He is still a brand ambassador. He will still be one,” said Suresh Kedia, CEO Marketing, Pogo chips.

Shaktimaan, they insist, is an add-on ambassador and not a replacement for Sourav.

But the writing is on the wall. Sourav Ganguly is not on any hoardings or in the TV spots.

Contracts not renewed

And at least one Kolkata company did not renew its contract when it lapsed a month ago. Press a little, and even the potato chip company wilts.

“He is with us still, now I can say this. How much longer? That I don’t know,” said G P Agarwal, Chairman, Pogo chips.

Shaktimaan Mukhesh Khanna however hopes for better things.

“If you talk about a joint venture for Pogo or anything, we two can. I might wear a cricket outfit and he can wear my Shaktiman outfit. It would be a very interest ad. I think I will give him some Shaktiman ki shaktiyan and take some cricketing shakti from him,” said Khanna.

Sourav will need every super power at his command to strike like a Colossus once again on the cricket field and off it.

West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty Monday asserted former Indian cricket board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya had not leaked an e-mail that led to the ultimate downfall of former captain Sourav Ganguly.

A day after dubbing Ganguly an opportunist who switched camps, the Bengal minister defended Dalmiya in the state assembly lobby maintaining, “I can say with full responsibility that the person he (Sourav) has made the allegation against did not leak the mail.”

“Sourav’s allegations are not true,” he said of the e-mail from coach Greg Chappell that questioned Ganguly’s form and temperament.

Adding a twist to the ongoing Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) election drama, Ganguly Friday pointed an oblique finger at Dalmiya for the Chappell e-mail leak while openly supporting Dalmiya’s rival in the CAB polls.

“People who leak e-mails and sacrifice players’ careers should be heavily punished,” Ganguly, who is now in England playing county cricket for Northamptonshire, wrote in an e-mail to a relative which was released by his brother Snehasish Ganguly and Dalmiya’s challenger Prasun Mukherjee.

“There are people in CAB who are playing with players’ careers. They should not be left scot-free as players need years to reach a certain level,” Ganguly said, indirectly attacking Dalmiya and holding him responsible for his present sorry state.

Earlier, Subhas Chakraborty launched a strong pro-Dalmiya campaign saying, “Sourav Ganguly no longer needs Jagmohan Dalmiya. He has got someone else to go ahead and so he has passed these comments against him.”

Chakraborty’s utterances are also meat to settle his political scores with the chief minister within the party. The chief minister backs Prasun Mukherjee in the CAB polls and had asked the sports minister to persuade Dalmiya to step aside from the CAB election.

West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty has upped the ante in the ongoing Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) election campaign by calling Sourav Ganguly an “opportunist", bringing to fore the fissures within the ranks of the Left Front over the issue.

“Sourav Ganguly no longer needs Jagmohan Dalmiya. He has got someone else to go ahead and so he has passed these comments against him,” Chakraborty said on Sunday night.

Asked if Ganguly would be termed a traitor, he said: “No, not a traitor. But certainly an opportunist. In order to fulfil own dreams and ambitions, some people just don’t give much importance to ethics. These people just take the chances as they present themselves. These people can use a trusted as a ladder to return to light from darkness. You can call it something like this.”

“Early in his career when he was only 13, I had taken the personal initiative to send Sourav to play in county cricket in England. This was not once but twice. But has he ever talked about it? Forget talking about it he never bothered to thank me with a call on his return.”

However, in an interview to a city daily from London, when asked about it, Sourav said: “Yes, its true (Subhas’s role in his early career).”

Asked about the CAB elections and his failure to bring in an understanding, he said: “Yes, the Chief Minister had given me a task, but I had failed.”

Meanwhile, PWD Minister and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Kshiti Goswami also voiced his displeasure against Sourav.

“The email from Sourav has no purpose and the timing is just not right. Its because of Dalmiya that Chandi Ganguly’s son has become Sourav Ganguly and the man is responsible for bringing some of the biggest cricket spectacles to Kolkata. But most importantly he has turned both BCCI and CAB from two cash stripped ailing bodies into cash cows,” he said.

“CAB is an independent autonomous organisation and it will be best if it were to be left in that manner. We would not like any interference from any quarters.”

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who is on a sticky wicket now after the tables were turned against Sourav, is keeping silent.

City police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, backed by the Chief Minister, is challenging Dalmiya for the post of president in the July 30 CAB elections

The battle for Bengal cricket is in its final lap, with the elections scheduled this Sunday. And despite the strong influence of the Gangulys - it’s advantage Dalmiya at this stage. But Prasun Mukherjee - Kolkata’s police chief and Dalmiya’s opponent is hard at work. Sambit Pal tells us more about the top cop.

Kolkata may be on a high alert these days, but the city’s police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee devotes almost all his hours at another battlefront - the battle for the top post in Bengal cricket. And on Wednesday the commissioner spent almost 6-7 hours at the Cricket Association of Bengal, scrutinising nomination papers submitted by associate clubs. After all - Mukherjee has his task cut out, running against the one-time Czar of world cricket Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Mukherjee, an IPS officer from the 1973 batch, may be new to the cricket boardroom battles but he’s an old hand at sports administration, having earlier presided over the West Bengal Athletics Association.

Sourav Ganguly’s latest email, his brother Snehashish Ganguly’s backing and the support of the state’s most powerful man - Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee may have added to Prasun Mukherjee’s armoury, but beating master tactician Dalmiya requires a whole lot more. Quite aware of his duties as city police chief and unlike Jagmohan Dalmiya, Prasun Mukherjee wants to work as a team.

“I have talked to 94 clubs personally and I understand their aspirations. We have charted a plan, and we will work as a team,” says Mukherjee.

The Prasun Mukherjee camp has already charted out its 25-point vision programme for Bengal cricket that include:

▪ Development of cricket not only in Kolkata but also in the districts
▪ Demanding more important international matches from BCCI
▪ Providing a clean and transparent administration in CAB
▪ Limiting the period of tenure of CAB president

But for this vision to be realized, Commissioner Mukherjee will have to do a Sharad Pawar - that is, conquer Jagmohan Dalmiya.

If you had followed the rise of Jagmohan Dalmiya as a cricket administrator, from the relative anonymity of a middle-level club on Kolkata’s Maidan to the exalted corridors of the International Cricket Council, you will have known that no one can quite bend it like him.

Promises, appeasement, threats, the lure of money… he has used them all as he coaxed, cajoled or browbeat his way to what he wanted. It’s just that some ten months ago, he would bend more than he could mend.

The leak of Greg Chappell’s now famous e-mail on Sourav Ganguly, which most believe was done at Dalmiya’s behest to gain advantage in the murky build-up to the BCCI elections last year, has come back to haunt him as he prepares for another tumultuous elections - this time on a turf where he has long been considered the unquestioned king. Ganguly’s e-mail, obliquely referring to Dalmiya as the man who ruined his career , must have come as the biggest shock for the former ICC president.

It was his proximity to Ganguly that had always assured his support in a cricket-crazy state even as he roused a groundswell of opposition both within the BCCI and the ICC. Now the two of them stand on either sides of the battleline.

Ganguly may have woken up late, but it’s Dalmiya who must be spending sleepless nights now.

Despite Chappell’s declared dislike of Ganguly’s work ethos and the former India skipper’s own lack of form, the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ is a huge sentimental favourite in these parts and his falling out with Dalmiya could well be the beginning of the end for the latter. It is not just about Sunday’s CAB elections, which Dalmiya, the clever fox that he is, may still be hoping to pull off with the caucus that is still around him, but about the erosion of the remaining traces of credibility in the absence of Ganguly’s protective shield.

The former India skipper may be thousands of miles away, plying his trade for English county Northants, but Dalmiya has been left to fight Ganguly even before he can fight police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee for the CAB president, a post he has held for the past 14 years. Ironically, Dalmiya and his running mates in the elections have been left with no option but to discredit Ganguly and project him as being ungrateful. Yet, they dare not utter a word against the blue-eyed boy of Bengal cricket.

It just not adding up for the master of the numbers game.

On Monday, he had another ‘problem’ to put his mind to. The City Civil Court here appointed a retired judge as the independent observer for the elections. The last time a court made such a move, during last year’s BCCI elections, Dalmiya showed a healthy dislike for such ‘intervention’.

It’s an irony that the e-mail, the world’s modern mode of staying connected, should so signal in Indian cricket the ultimate breakdowns in communication. The one some 10 months ago had flagged the final rupture in relationship between Ganguly and Chappell. Now, another has had the former India skipper splitting with his ‘mentor’.

It was inevitable. Don’t blame the technology.

He has not exactly set county cricket on fire with his batting but the die-hard optimist in Sourav Ganguly refuses to give in and keeps chasing the dream of playing in next year’s World Cup in the West Indies.

Admitting he was struggling with the bat in his stint with Northamptonshire, Ganguly said, “…In England and at this time of the season, you need to survive the initial moments to go for a big score. I was not getting the start in the last few matches. But I have to make it big to be there.”

The unimpressive show notwithstanding, Ganguly is hoping for a comeback to the side he lead for long.

“Well, that (comeback) is something I believe I should. That is the reason why I am here at the County cricket. I know I have to perform to come back to the team and I am trying to do so,” he told Gulf News.

And despite his well-known poor relation with coach Greg Chappell and slipshod county form, Ganguly is hoping against hopes for a comeback before the 2007 World Cup.

“Well, if I thought it would not be possible, I would not have been playing now. That is a dream for me and I am chasing it. I need runs to back myself and if I can do so, it will be okay,” he added.

Asked if he liked the Twenty20 version of the game, Ganguly, whose side was beaten in the Twenty20 Cup quarterfinal, said, “You have to play the games as it is scheduled.

“The 240-balls game is a place where you have to hit it without thinking about anything else. This form of cricket has gained momentum here in England, people are coming to be part of the excitement,” he observed.

He also denied taking batting tips from Zaheer Abbas who is here as Pakistan team manager.

“Not really. We met after a long time and had some usual chat. Nothing else,” he said.

Ganguly had to retire in Northamptonshire’s match against Pakistan after his mistimed pull saw him dragging the ball onto his chin, which required two butterfly stitches.

Despite his disappointing show with the bat so far, Ganguly realises this is his best chance of making good scores to draw the selectors’ attention and he says he is enjoying the county atmosphere.

“It is as enjoyable as it was last year. I know I’m here for a few days and I have to do everything in this period. I earnestly hope that I shall be making my mark in the first class matches too,” he added.