Ganguly -- Bengal Tiger on the prowl

Ganguly -- Bengal Tiger on the prowl
H NATARAJAN

MARCH 11: Victories in Indian cricket have more cause for concern than cheer. A single win has the nation going into instant ecstasies, wiping out harsh realities of protracted defeats with unhealthy swiftness.

The Indian triumph over South Africa in the first One-Day International (ODI) at Kochi is no different. The photo-finish underlined the fact that fortunes may well have swung either way. Indeed, if the result had gone South Africa's way, the heroics of the Indian team in chasing a daunting 300-plus would have submerged under the debris of criticism of a fickle nation.

Confidence is one thing, cockiness is something else. The demarcating line is very thin -- and subtle -- with the risk of crossing omnipresent. The Indian team needs to guard against this very peril.

In Saurav Ganguly the team has a new leader who has come a long way from being a cocky entrant on the international stage to a leader of promise. A captain eloquent in his thoughts, actions and speech. Like Sachin Tendulkar, the man from whom he has taken over, Ganguly leads by example. But where he seems to score over the Indian cricket's demi-God -- so far -- is in his man-management skills.

Ganguly took over as captain at a time when India's cricketing stocks have plumbed new depths and the morale of the players is knocked out of shape. For a team which has struggled for months -- the light at the end of a dark tunnel seemingly no where in sight -- and with an overwhelming record against it as a poor chasers, the successful run-chase at Kochi was magnificent. And even if one should exercise restrain in judging the leadership of the new skipper, one cannot but concede a few points straightaway.

Days before taking the field at Kochi, Ganguly made Mohammed Azharuddin feel more welcome in the team than ever before. He also said that leading two former captains -- in Azhar and Tendulkar -- was no disadvantage. He proved it immediately by getting Azhar to play an important role in Indian's batting revival after showing greater belief in Tendulkar's bowling than the highly-committed Mumbai man has himself shown in his mixed masala.

Tendulkar emerged as the most economical of the Indian bowlers while Rahul Dravid came as a greater revelation with a nine-over spell for two wickets. That two non-regular Indian bowlers played such important roles in the Indian attack may not speak highly for the team's strength, but it certainly did credit to Ganguly's ability to think differently and more effectively than Indian captains in the immediate past.

That Ganguly showed visions of a leader was apparent when he took over as stop-gap skipper in Toronto. It was reiteration of a fact that he had come a long way since he first came on the international stage in 1991-92 and earned the reputation of a spoilt, rich kid. The damage of that tour was so great that a promising career took far too long to bloom. Those five years in international wilderness taught the man lot of valuable lessons. And among the things he learnt was to treat promising players with caution and care. Now that he had assumed a position of power in Indian cricket when his voice will be hear, Ganguly lost no time in expressing his opinion: that a player should not be rushed on a season's showing in domestic cricket, but once elevated to the international ranks, he should not be given a meaningful opportunity to prove his mettle. The empathy factor was unmistakable.