Time to see fate’s favourite victim Sourav Ganguly in undeviating light

BCCI’s newly elected President Sourav Ganguly is a name that invites debate. That’s just his fate. Even after a decade since his retirement, Ganguly continued to make it to the headlines. But it’s not always about controversy or hero-worshipping, it’s about the tendency of people to dissect every aspect of the man into a two-way anatomy. Of course, for a strong and dynamic character like Sourav Ganguly, the attention and eventual parley are inevitable. But for a man who attracts conflicts so often, why does the BCCI reach out to him for conflict resolution?

But who is Ganguly really? An aggressive leader or a compassionate man who cares for the game of cricket a bit too much? The problem is people know way too much about Ganguly, but the legitimacy of actually knowing the man depends on the ratio of facts and imagination. Way back in 2002, Sourav Ganguly, as India’s skipper, had taken off his shirt and waved it around at the Lord’s balcony, an incident that would become iconic across ages to come. Seventeen years hence, while joining the office as the BCCI President, the man donned a blazer from his first day of captaincy. The question remains the same - But who is Ganguly really?

But Ganguly would carry on to tread his own way amidst all the chirp. Perhaps, his popularity as a captain has always been at the highest degree and hence was seen as someone who’d become the head coach someday. But looking at what happened to him in his late captaincy days or Kohli’s absolute disapproval of Anil Kumble as coach, it would’ve been a bad idea, no matter how fancied it was.

In a rather stunning eventuality, Ganguly became the BCCI president. 

‘Dadi’ not Dada

Starting from the rumours that Ganguly refused to carry drinks for his teammates- something that he repeatedly denies- to turning up late for the Toss, it's certain that he loved marching on his own tune. All of these aspects put together, one might ask if Ganguly was so full of pride, then how did he end up being loved and trusted amongst his peers? That's what we are looking at. 

A man who walked India out of the darkness of match-fixing is now being bestowed with the responsibility of taking the BCCI beyond the Supreme Court-appointed CoA rule. A captain who never considered regional boundaries and brought in talent invariably has vowed to give his best into domestic cricket as one of his first agendas as board president. A passionate cricketer who troubled the Aussies will now make ICC pay their dues to the BCCI. As always, when put on power, there's hardly anyone who knows what to do better than the man in question. Perhaps, like Vinod Rai had stated, if the Kumble-Kohli fiasco happened in Sourav's tenure then "Sourav would have thrust Kumble down Virat's throat". 

Dada was stern in his actions when he waved his shirt at Lord's and suggested others to do so, he was stern when he defended Virender Sehwag from John Wright. But his compassion when refusing to comment on Sachin's chirps and his utmost dedication in shaping Sehwag into an opener are what define him.

An aggressive leader, a passionate man-manager and a sheer visionary, fate’s favourite victim Sourav Ganguly has more to him than what meets the eye. But now it’s time to see him in a linear way, as for the next nine months, he will sit at the top of the Indian cricket hierarchy. He’s the strongest man in the setup and people are trusting him to do great things, and why not, it's the Maharaja of Indian cricket we're talking about. Perhaps, it’s time that Dada’s pride will take him to the heights that he never reached as captain.