The Lament of a Spent Cricketer

Sourav Ganguly returns to repeat the same story

To know why Sachin Tendulkar never became the great Indian captain that he should have been, just look at him on the IPL field when Mumbai Indians play. The face is ridden with anxiety,  the body language is impatient and the demeanour is of a man constantly feeling that nothing is matching up to his measure. And all this is happening while his IPL team is having the best run in this tournament. Contrast this with the great captains of this decade, Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Steve Waugh. There is not a flicker of emotion even though they might be roiling inside. They know there is a point beyond which things can’t be engineered by human action. By relinquishing India’s captaincy, Tendulkar did the brave thing. Only fools hang on to things not cut out for them. There is a time to let go.

Early this week, out of the blue, Sourav Ganguly, whose cricketing epitaph had been etched and even started collecting dust, made another one of his remarkable comebacks. He is going to play for the Pune Royal Warriors under Yuvraj Singh, who Ganguly had nurtured while captain of India. While Ganguly was no Waugh, he was no Tendulkar either when it came to captaincy, and was indisputably a superior leader. But unlike Tendulkar, he has absolutely no conception of when to let go. In the streets of Mumbai (not Kolkata, never there) the derisive response of the middle class, which cannot recognise any drive beyond money, is, “Woh paise ke liye kar raha hai.” (He’s doing it for the money). He is not. The money from one or two seasons of IPL will be, to use a cliché, less than what he feeds his chicken.

What drives him is the same thing that afflicts Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and millions of others in their 50s and 60s—the horror of not knowing what to do after your time is done. Most people don’t have an option and quietly retire without rebelling. Others like Ganguly stretch it until breaking point. The idea that it is better to suffer ridicule than to be behind a mike talking about where the ball is going is tragic and cowardly.  It is also admirable. The only way to beat it is to perform at superhuman levels like Tendulkar. Barring a few professions, like politics, if you stick around, the older you get the more humiliation you suffer. Ganguly knows this better than anyone else.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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