Why is Indian captain always under scrutiny?

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 5. ``Captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill....but, for heaven's sake, don't try it without that little 10 per cent.'' Gem from Richie Benaud in his priceless work `On Reflection'. What is that little 10 per cent? It varies from captain to captain, team to team.

What is true for Steve Waugh, need not be for Sourav Ganguly. What Shaun Pollock observes need not find support from Nasser Hussain or Waqar Younis. Captaincy is a tricky, demanding job and Ganguly would have realised it very well by now.

Why is the Indian captain always under scrutiny? None can answer this convincingly. Why this needless speculation in the media on the eve of every selection? This has given sleepless nights even to Sachin Tendulkar.

Will he remain captain? Will he lose captaincy? Every Tom, Dick and Harry airs his views, not to forget the arm-chair critics. Even some failed first-class cricketers have had digs at the Indian captain. It is a hot seat, attracts trouble most of the time and yet has people clamouring to grab.

The same Ganguly who hit an unbeaten 98 to fashion a Test win was put on trial a week later following another defeat. Was the captain alone responsible for the performance of the side? How could the experts, especially those in the television box, change their opinion so quickly. What then would be the difference between the so-called experts and the layman who also talks of sacking the captain every time the team loses.

In the Indian context, captaincy is a most difficult task. Neither the Board, nor the selectors, will back an individual for a long period. They all want quick results and it is this impatience that keeps the captain under pressure. He is expected to deliver, regardless of the strength of the team at his disposal. In the absence of some key players, it was creditable that India managed to win a Test against the Sri Lankans, who were, in any case, a better side. But the sharks are out again to have a go at the captain.

Ganguly is not a perfect captain. He will need lot more time to become one. He is yet to understand the difference between aggression and petulance and has paid the price for it on a few occasions. He has the backing of the team but not the Board, which keeps the issue hanging by naming him captain for one series at a time. In Indian cricket, a captain has always been on trial, just as individuals like Praveen Amre and Robin Singh (Sr).

To be fair to Ganguly, he has never had the best Indian combination at his disposal. And now when there are no injury scares, the talk of Ganguly losing captaincy has found place in the cricketing circles. Would it be fair to hold just one man responsible for a debacle in a team game?

Captaincy is not just about setting a field and making bowling changes or marking a batting order. It is much more. In the opinion of Tiger Pataudi, there are two ways of captaining. ``One is if you happen to be the lead player then you must pull the team with you. If you don't happen to be the lead player then you must push the team from behind.'' Ganguly, incidentally, falls in the latter category because of his batting failures.

Ganguly has been wanting to play the lead role but his batting form has deserted him at crucial times. Kandy was an exception. The opposition to him is not emanating from within the team but outside where forces with vested interest have been working hard to spread a wrong impression of the Indian captain.

There was this Board official, a self-proclaimed cricket romantic, who reportedly made some uncalled for uncharitable remarks about Ganguly in front of his junior teammates during the team's last tour to Sri Lanka. Pressure was brought on the team manager to make adverse remarks on Ganguly's behaviour and captaincy in his report. Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev, Tendulkar, Kris Srikkanth, Dilip Vengsarkar have been some previous captains who have suffered at the hands of such dubious officials. Now it is Ganguly's turn.

Again Pataudi had this splendid observation on Indian captaincy. ``I think what is important is that you have to be totally transparent and no player should feel that you are being biased towards him or discriminating against him.'' Here, Ganguly stands out for his greatest supporters are Yuveraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag. And none of them plays for Bengal.

Some years back, former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi had said ``we have to overcome our parochial interests.'' Ganguly should satisfy Bedi indeed on this front.

In `Tiger's Tale', Pataudi says ``You can lead a side in several different ways. You can do it by being aloof, and this is probably easiest because when people don't know you too well they tend to treat you with respect, or you can lead by being `one of the boys', a sociable captain. You can be a tough fellow, or a nice fellow; an inspiring performer, or a shrewd tactician.'' Well, Ganguly is just learning to be one with the support of coach John Wright and deputy Rahul Dravid.

Not everyone can be a Mike Brearley, Imran Khan or a Steve Waugh. And Ganguly need not be. He can be different. One of his kind. But he would need time, and the right backing, to get the best out of this team which is struggling to find replacements for ageing stars. Ganguly deserves one series with a full-strength Indian team at his command. The selectors are divided on the issue but then giving the job to a new man would hardly be the solution.

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