By Denzil Fernandes, Dubai
DENZIL FERNANDES is a former radio commentator having covered various sports events. He has also interviewed eminent sports stars like Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Vijay Amritraj and many others during their prime. Denzil has written for several magazines and covered for Khaleej Times and Gulf News at different times in the past. He played hockey for Air India Bombay and was an active cricketer in Dubai as well.
Aug 1: Neither here nor there ! Wow Sourav ! What a pathetic situation for the former India captain !
After receiving almost all kinds of favours from his so called godfather, Jagmohan Dalmiya, like the proverbial prodigal son, , with his mind firmly set for a reggae trip to the West Indies for the World Cup in 2007 Sourav Ganguly changed horses just when the elections for the prestigious post of the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal were to be held.
Despite so many influential personalities involved in the crucial elections on both the sides, everyone believed that Dalmiya’s opponent, the Police Commissioner of Bengal, Prasun Mukherjee would go through if not with ease. In the process, Dalmiya’s shrewd and jute hard tactics were sidelined without any respect whatsoever. Sensing a golden chance, former India captain Sourav Ganguly too jumped into Mukherjee’s wagon only to be at the losing end unfortunately.
And, with that election result, possibly, Ganguly must have cancelled all his flight bookings to the West Indies for 2007 in a hurry with a full refund ! What will happen now to Ganguly is anyone’s guess.
Let us give Dalmiya the ‘devil’ his dues. No doubt, today, Dalmiya finds himself in hot waters for his various alleged acts of omission and commission especially when he was in power. I am a firm supporter of Indian cricket for all that is good. And for that good which has come into the present BCCI affairs, we have to give Dalmiya a bit of credit too. Without doubt, with his immaculate business sense, he made BCCI a super powerhouse of cricket in the international world. The coffers of the Board swelled and everyone gained directly and indirectly. Let me add, that, from all accounts it seemed that no one liked Dalmiya’s almost autocratic styles of functioning anywhere.
There were instances where even though he was a namesake President, he took upon himself to undertake the tasks of the secretary as well. Such was his hold and hunger to ensure complete success of all the projects. Under him, there were so many successful tournaments held and he even went to the extent of guiding the ICC to prosperity when he was the president of the international body.
Unfortunately, however, Dalmiya, perhaps, made more enemies than friends as he reigned over a cricket empire in a robust manner. In the process, his favourites players gained reputation and renown although they would have struggled to find a place in the state team perhaps. One such player who rose prematurely was Saurav Ganguly whom Dalmiya plucked from the Eden Gardens and planted him firmly into the India side.
It was celebration time for Ganguly as he led the Indians as the captain irrespective of his own personal performances which were nothing to write about. As long as Dalmiya was there, there was no one to touch the prince of Bengal. At various times, Ganguly was backed by Dalmiya to the hilt at enormous costs to the BCCI. There were stories circulating that Dalmiya was eyeing Ganguly to be his ‘son in law’ in whatever way it meant.
However, as luck would have it, with the pendulum of cricket power changing hands in India, Dalmiya went out of the Indian cricket scene and with him the fortunes of Ganguly too. With the arrival of the new ‘no nonsense’ coach in Australia’s Greg Chappell, there was no more room for favouritism and Ganguly was promptly shown the exit door. Ganguly tried to promote his utility to the team in his own ‘internet’ ways but with no performances to back him and a powerless godfather in Dalmiya unable to help him nothing could be done.
Ganguly went off to play county cricket in an attempt to get runs and impress the Indian selectors. But with no runs there too, Ganguly had one last shot left in his favourite pistol. That shot was aimed to fire a pathetic and helpless Dalmiya from far off England and openly announce that the Bengal prince was with the Calcutta cop at the crucial CAB elections. In spite of being a calculating captain, Ganguly bungled miserably and Dalmiya had the last laugh with his narrow win at the elections to continue as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal. Ganguly’s wheel of fortune has come a full circle now which should mean ‘adieus’ to international cricket for him.
How times change! The prince charming of Indian cricket stands nowhere now and seems unwanted both by his state and country may be. For all the ugly scenes of the past where Ganguly was the main actor, Chappell will not be in a mood to take Ganguly back and spoil the team script and the spirit. Will Dalmiya pardon his former ‘bete noir’ for his election revolt or will he make Ganguly eat humble pie remains to be seen. Will the Bengal team include Ganguly for their domestic tournaments including Ranji Trophy, etc.?
The cricket war will continue both at the state and national level. Dalmiya will have his hands full whichever way the ball swings in the days ahead. Being a master at old tricks, how ‘Jaggu da’ will play his cards no one knows. He will be having a busy day in the office facing the bigwigs of cricket. And, amidst all this farce and fiasco, if ever Ganguly makes a comeback to the Indian team, it will be the eighth wonder of Indian cricket. Where will Ganguly go now?
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