The Sourav Ganguly Era

Lessons in Leadership from Indian Cricket - 2

- Arijit Ray

INDIAN CRICKET made progress in the years after the two greats, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, departed from the scene. Many great cricketers of extraordinary talent joined the team, in the period up to 2000. Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, V.V. S. Lakshman, Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, to name a few. But the team could not go to the next level, as a unit. There were good performances but as a unit collectively, something was missing.

Cut to the year 2000. On the back of a dark chapter in the cricketing world, the sordid saga of match-fixing, Indian cricket stood at a point of transition. The team’s responsibility fell on the shoulders of the young and talented southpaw Sourav Ganguly. What he would do would have an impact on Indian cricket’s future. And it surely did. Sourav Ganguly’s leadership backed by John Wright as coach transformed the way we played the sport in many ways. And navigated Indian cricket, through a tough phase of change.

Saurav brought in a dash of aggression in the players. A diehard winning instinct. He instilled in the team the importance of dominating the opponent through performance in the field and psychologically. If it had to be given back, it had to be, even if it was through sledging. Not to take anything lying down was the mantra.