Heavy Sits The Crown

By Gaurang - 10 April, 2003
April 11 2003

During the time that Sourav Ganguly has been India's captain, let's see what has happened to the other heads that wear the "crown", or the T-shirt that says "I am in charge".

1. England's Hussain has called it quits in ODIs after failing to end his team's countless consecutive-game losing streak against Australia, and failing to make the super 6 stage in the World Cup. He may want to retain the captaincy in Tests... but will they let him?

2. Australia has two separate captains for ODIs and Tests already! Thus, the burden is split. In any case, leading Australia is like leading a bunch of teenage boys past an adult video store. They all want in, are always up for it, and can never have enough!

3. West Indies: Hooper came, did marginally better than his predecessor, and now his predecessor is back in charge. The wheel has turned full circle, although it is still stuck in the mud.

4. South Africa: Captain Pollock, who was elevated after his predecessor's highly refined money-counting skills came to light, was ignominiously sacked after a miserable WC where his own points-counting skills showed up suspect. In the middle, he did well in beating mediocre teams in inconsequential tournaments, but choked in the ICC KO as well as the WC -- the biggest stages.

5. Sri Lanka: Captain Jayasuriya has given up the captaincy in disgust after his team has walked on water for most of the past couple of years: doing reasonably well at home (despite a loss to England) but being destroyed overseas due to ineffective pace bowling and a brittle middle order.

6. Zimbabwe: The post of captain has defined the concept of Musical chairs, although after selecting the current captain they have run out of chairs.. or is it music? He's been in the post for a while but only because there is nobody else in the picture.

7. Pakistan: For this team, the post has always defined the term Musical chairs, except during the Imran era.

8. Bangladesh: The less said, the better.

9. New Zealand: The only other team that has had a consistent leader in both Tests and ODIs comparable to Sourav. However, he only has to keep a small portion of some 4 million people happy, or about as many fans as there are just in Ganguly's suburb of Kolkata. And if his team were humiliated in the WC, nobody threw rocks at his house or doused his lawn in oil. And nobody insists that after a tiring 18 months of non-stop cricket, he go on a meaningless jaunt to boost the board president's prestige and pocket book.

Based on these facts, Ganguly has clearly proven that he is one of the best captains ever.

Not only has he led the team to steadily improving performances, especially overseas and in ODIs, but he is able to take on the immense pressure of the most thankless job in the world and carry it out with grace and style.

However, even he has admitted that he may not last long. That would be a shame. Leaders like Dada come along rarely.