Sunday Snippets
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly who visited Mumbai recently for angioplasty treatment from the famed Woodlands Hospital was the second in the list of former cricketing legends, close on heels to Kapil Dev to report this ailment. Though this is not a cause of concern for raising a flag on the health concerns of our former cricketers, it does throw up questions about how the rigours of pursuing an active sports person’s life may pose health hazards owing to extra pressure exerted on organs like the heart or lungs.
Kapil Dev who is popularly called the Haryana hurricane used to build up his body resistance to hostile weather and keep running uninterrupted over long stretches of country style roads. His diligence over maintaining good fitness standards was one of the reasons why his pace was considered to be hostile compared to other contemporaries like Madan Lal and Roger Binny.
Also read: Sunday Snippets: Kapil’s daredevilry that changed Indian cricket forever
Sourav – the undisputed Dada of cricket – who was popular for his feats with the willow was also used as a stock bowler in one-day internationals and somewhat sparingly in Test matches. Historically recalling, he enjoyed the reputation of the most successful Indian skipper till the point of time his tenure lasted, when compared with his predecessors like Azharuddin or Kapil Dev or for that matter Sunny Gavaskar. In the 1999 World Cup when India handed out its first World cup defeat to Sri Lanka, Sourav along with Rahul Dravid had a memorable partnership that took India beyond the 370 mark. In reply, the Sri Lankan side was bundled out for 216 as chasing the stiff target made them lose early wickets. Another thing that set him apart from other captains was the aggression he wore on his sleeves both on the field and off the field.
Later on, he captained India against the touring Aussies. After being one-down in the Test series, losing the first Test in Mumbai by an innings and a mile, Sourav along with Dravid and VVS Laxman made it comfortable for India to launch its stage back in the three-Test series. The captain’s aggression also helped the team members to play good attacking cricket, like on the occasion of the NatWest trophy final in England, when India pulled off a near impossible victory after being seven wickets down before they even reached the 150 mark, while chasing a 320 plus total.
Sourav loved playing in front of his home crowd at Eden Gardens, Kolkota. In recent years, it’s Rohit Sharma, a Mumbai-based player who has turned into the darling of the Eden Gardens crowd. However, the adulation Sourav received at the hands of his home crowd is something that had to be seen to be believed. This happened during the early years of the IPL tournament, when Sourav played for Kolkata Knight Riders as captain. For every hit to the fence from the skipper, the crowd gave an overwhelming applause. In fact, whenever Sourav was at the crease to face a fresh delivery, the crowd used to cheer in anticipation.
It might be recalled that Sourav took over from Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy following the latter exhibiting poor form with the willow during his brief tenure as skipper. That threw up an exciting opening pair of Sachin and Sourav for India’s one-day fixtures. I will end it with a joke that was doing the rounds during their opening stint for India. Sachin and Sourav are both seated on a garden bench discussing their old times. They both had grown aged beyond recognition. Sourav tells Sachin, “Whoever goes to heaven first will let the other know whether people in heaven play cricket.” No doubt one could imagine only of Dada having the gumption of telling such things to the God of cricket – Sachin! Such jokes apart, there is no doubt that Dada played the game both with his heart and head. We know he has been a fighter and today again, when he faced a heart ailment, we are sure he will fight it out in style. We, like all his fans, wish him and Kapil, a speedy recovery.
