A Tribute to DADA -PART 3 :: The peak of a slippery slope

To view part1 and part2 click on the links..

.........New Age India suddenly began to dominate the proceedings. Ganguly began calling the shots. The Board gave him what he wanted and he gave what the Board and a billion fans wanted - wins. Under his leadership India started winning Test matches away with john wright as coach.. India with the combination of Dada and Wright saw huge wins, historic wins and a team that could win the world cup was being built.. There was an influx of youth, but crucially, the newcomers were backed. The team didn’t look meek anymore. They played aggressively and did not give an inch to the opposition.

India began to win and do so consistently. India won a test match on Caribbean soil after decades and managed not to lose a series in England as well. India also went on to win the Champions Trophy in 2002 jointly with SL. But a terrible tour to New Zealand (just before the WC) and a horrible start to the 2003 World Cup(poor matches against Aussies and Netherlands), once again raised eyebrows. After being thwarted by the Aussies in the league match, Ganguly suddenly instilled an unprecedented amount of zeal in the team. The Huddle was introduced, the team gelled up as a unit in a jiffy and things started to come back on track. India could not be beaten. In each game their performance was better and they were more ruthless. But India faltered at the last hurdle, a thing that became the feature of Ganguly's captaincy and it is certainly not one that Ganguly will like.

QUOTES:

There have been angry reactions back home and that is understandable because of our poor showing against Australia. But true supporters are this who not only jump up with the team’s victory but also stand by the team in times of defeats. I was shocked and disappointed to hear what the families of Dravid and Kaif have gone through.

- About the reaction of angry fans back home after India lost badly to Australia in the early stages of the 2003 World Cup.

One off day shattered our World Cup dream.

- After India got thrashed in the 2003 World Cup Final against Australia.

We obviously don't get support from outside, so we support each other and will continue to do so whatever happens in the rest of the tournament.

- Dada on why the ‘huddle’ was invented during the World Cup.

World cup 2003 India matches:




The tour Down Under.. Come December 2003, India had a tour of Australia which was touted as the toughest challenge.. Steve Waugh,in his farewell series, talked of mental disintegration.. Again people were discussing the defeat margin and were considering a draw to be a victory. There was a lot of banter on and off the field and Australia found themselves in an unknown territory as Ganguly responded to Steve Waugh's "Mental Disintegration" in the Aussie way.
When the chips were down, the captain led from the front. A gutsy century in the first test helped India save the game. A win in Adelaide, a defeat in Melbourne and a draw at Sydney ensured that the series is drawn and the Border Gavaskar trophy remained in India. This was a big big achievement.

In no other country is a team written off even before its departure.

- Slams the Indian critics who predicted that India would be thrashed by the home team when they toured Australia in December 2003.

Then, in the 2003 series (on India's tour to Australia), Steve (Waugh) said that let's be on time for the toss now. I said: 'If you behave, I will'.

- Sourav

I believe in my ability to score runs and that is what I look to do. It happens sometimes that people get after you. But you have to take in your stride. It’s a professional sport so one has to go ahead.

- After he scored a ton against Australia at Brisbane and proved all his detractors wrong.

We know, and they know, that we can beat them.

- said a rather cocky Sourav after beating Australia.

Ganguly's 144 in Brisbane

Critics did try to down play India`s performance by pointing out that the performance came in the absence of Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee and Shane Warne. But Ganguly silenced all the critics by defeating a full strength Pakistan side in Pakistan in both the Test and the one-day series. This was the highpoint of Ganguly`s captaincy but also turned out to be the end of glorious phase in Indian cricket. When Australia toured India , Ganguly pulled himself out of the match at the last minute in the Nagpur Test. Many felt he was scared to play on a green top. As it turned out, India lost the Test comfortably and went on to lose the series too. Things were never the same in Indian cricket after that defeat. Ganguly and John Wright formed a good captain-coach combo but the side had degenerated towards the end of their reign.

Many things go wrong in life but nowhere close to as regularly or horribly as it happens for Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly was served a five match ban for slow over-rates during which Dravid became the captain. A poor form with the bat and some defeats had given room for speculations that Chappell might soon want Dravid to become the captain on a full time basis. Ganguly missed a few important matches due to injury and this didn't go down well with people but more so with the new Indian coach - Greg Chappell.But the selectors decided to go on with Ganguly for the tour to Zimbabwe. There was pressure on Ganguly - the batsman and Ganguly - the captain and he responded with a lacklustre ton in Bulawayo against the Zimbabweans. Then he faced perhaps the most controversial interview of his life. That interview with Harsha Bhogle spelt doom where he went on record saying that there were suggestions made to him to step down as the captain. And then the ever so acrimoniously popular e-mail of Greg Chappel sprung up to the public eye which, as portrayed by the Ganguly camp, was a tactical move to finish an already declining career. What followed was something that was no way likeable. Suddenly captain courageous looked timid and the sensitive Indian public got some food for thought with dirty linen being washed in public.

His dispute with then coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behavior was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team.

Click on the images to read the then news headlines:


Ganguly unwanted: email leak from Guru Greg

chappel's e-mail






Ganguly promises a comeback to the Indian side and wasn't it a great comeback?


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