March 22, 2003	Saturday	Muharram 18, 1424

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JOHANNESBURG, March 21: Saurav Ganguly, who captains India’s one-day side for the 100th time in Sunday’s World Cup final, has been described as arrogant, aloof and impulsive.

One former player also argued last month that he was not good enough to play for the team.

But even his fiercest critics would grudgingly recognise Ganguly’s contribution if he leads India to their second World Cup title after all rounder Kapil Dev in 1983.

The 30-year-old is used to criticism, be it centred on his character or his technique.

On Thursday, having scored 111 not out against Kenya to guide his team to Sunday’s final at The Wanderers against Australia, he was given only a few moments to savour his achievement before being asked about his lack of attacking off-side shots.

“At times I have played below potential,” he conceded. “Lots of bowlers don’t give me much room. They started bowling a bit on my body. Initially I struggled, but I am a better player now off my pads.”

Ganguly, at his best, is a fine, fluent driver of the ball.

His 8,696 one-day runs and 22 centuries suggest he can play. His Test average of 40.59, some three runs less than his one-day average, also puts him in the top bracket.

Yet there is always a rider, as former India Test captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth underlined when questioning Ganguly’s right to make the final eleven.

His problems with short-pitched bowling are well documented.

Those wanting to question Ganguly’s Test credentials can also point to just four centuries in four years. He has never reached three figures against Australia, South Africa, Pakistan or West Indies.

Those wanting to doubt his World Cup success, meanwhile, stress that his three centuries at the 2003 World Cup have come against Namibia and Kenya, while his average against Test-nation opponents is 17.16.

The articulate son of a wealthy Kolkata printer, Ganguly was criticised at the start of his international career for lack of humility.

He was banished from the side after playing one one-day game as a teenager in Australia 11 years ago.

Ganguly had to wait for another four years before returning for the Test tour of England in 1996 and scoring centuries in his first two Tests.

He was promoted to open in one-dayers later that year by then captain Sachin Tendulkar, the pair forming an enduring one-day partnership.

Ganguly took over as captain in October 2000, after Tendulkar quit following a 3-0 test series rout in Australia.

Critics predicted he would fail because he was a loner lacking in team spirit, a view strengthened after a difficult stint with English county Lancashire. He was dubbed “Lord Snooty” and reportedly once asked former England captain Michael Atherton to look after his sweater.

Australia captain Steve Waugh is not a fan either. He was furious when Ganguly repeatedly and provocatively turned up late for the toss during the 2001 Indian Test series.

But Ganguly has won other friends, particularly among his team mates.

He has often pleaded with the selectors to show faith in such youngsters as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and left-arm pacemen Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, all at some point criticised for poor attitude.

Sanjay Manjrekar, another former India player turned pundit, feels Ganguly has not been fully understood.

“It has taken everyone a while to get used to the personality of Saurav Ganguly,” he said. “He is like no one before him.

“Indians in particular have found it hard to accept someone who does not mind speaking his mind all the time.

“But he has picked and backed talent in the last two years which is paying dividends now.”.

Victory on Sunday would go some way to silencing the doubters. A century from the “Prince of Kolkata” might shut them up completely.—Reuters