Column

Memonics

Ironically, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s first Test as full-fledged Test captain will also mark Sourav Ganguly’s last international appearance. There have not been two more riveting personalities in Indian cricket history, as similar as they are different, and it remains to be seen whether Dhoni can live up to the hype and dislodge Ganguly as the country’s best-ever captain. To do that, I reckon however, the new kid on the block will have to learn as much as he can from the old one over the next five days. Like Barrack Obama, albeit in a totally different context, Dhoni is so strongly perceived as a harbinger of positive change that the pressure on him to prove his credentials as a leader will be enormous — and not just once, but every time he takes the field. Who better than Ganguly — who has seen it all, experienced the crests and the troughs, and lived to fight many days — to tell him how to cope with the job?

Of course, Dhoni has already captained in two Tests when Anil Kumble was injured earlier this year — and won both — but that is different from having a full-fledged lien on the job. Test captaincy is also vastly different from the limited overs variety in which Dhoni has enjoyed such huge success. The scrutiny and expectations, he will find quickly, become excruciating and unending.

In the Indian context, specially, the captain’s life can be precarious. The margin for error has become narrower by the year, and where it was considered a victory if India did not lose to a visiting team in the 50s, 60s and 70s, this is no longer the case today. The public, the administration, everybody wants a victory every time. If the team does badly, nobody cops it harder than the captain.

Moreover, as two other stalwarts in his side, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, would tell Dhoni, it is not just the results that can make it a claustrophobic existence. Dravid, it might be remembered, quit the captaincy despite winning a Test series against England last year. Tendulkar, after mulling over it for months, finally decided against taking up the job, leaving Dhoni suddenly in charge of the one-day team and Anil Kumble as a stop-gap arrangement for the Tests.

Kumble’s dignified and mature handling of the assignment gave Dhoni a splendid one-year apprenticeship. Yet, in his approach to the game, the young wicket-keeper-batsman is perhaps closer to Ganguly than any other person who has led India despite their known recent frosty relationship. They are both aggressive personalities, unafraid of reputations and opponents, have an eye for spotting match-winners, and are splendidly supportive of young talent.

More importantly, Ganguly provided Indian cricket the self-belief and the impetus to become a world-beating side, the benefits of which Dhoni is poised to enjoy now. It all began with the famous victory against Australia in 2000-01, only some months after Ganguly had taken over in very troubled circumstances with Indian cricket reeling in the wake of the match-fixing controversy, and since then, contests between these two countries have put every other in the game in the shade. In many ways, that wonderful story reaches its culmination in the final Test of this series. India are poised to win the rubber, and while the onus of leading the team obviously lies on Dhoni, he will need not only Ganguly’s sublime batting form to be intact, but also his leadership instincts to come to the fore. A victory would obviously be a terrific start for Dhoni’s captaincy career, but an even more memorable curtain-call for Ganguly.

Indeed, there is so much at stake not just for these two, but for Indian cricket, that every player must play out of his skin.