Shades of Gray

For some of the fans of ousted Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, the man has become bigger than the game. What else can explain their reaction over removal of Ganguly as the Test captain? Demonstrators under the banner of Maidan Sport Welfare Association shouted slogans before the Eden Gardens protesting the selectors’ decision to sack Ganguly as Test captain. Some have suggested that all this is politics and Ganguly, who has close ties with Dalmiya, is being targeted by the rival camps. What they don’t see is that Ganguly has been in the team for the last two years even though he wasn’t performing. A century against Zimbabwe in the last century doesn’t mean a thing. And in the last years, if he was not axed, was it not politics then – a clear example of the all powerful Dalmiya camp protecting him?

Peeved at what they described as the ‘shabby treatment’ meted out by the selectors to the former Indian skipper, the film fraternity in the state has threatened to boycott the November 25 match at the Eden Garden if the Bengal boy was not included in the team. Actress Rupa Ganguly, better known as the ‘Draupadi’ of famous tele-serial Mahabharat, said “We want everyone to protest this humiliation meted out to Sourav. As Bengalis and Indians, we think he has been severely wronged despite having the best track record as a captain.” Does record mean everything to these fans? If yes, what about Kapil Dev’s and Gavaskar’s record? Should we not give Gavaskar a chance again as opener of the Indian Test side? Records aside, it is the form that matters on the field. Someone like Rupa, who has given some powerful performances in Bengali serials and whose on-screen persona has been admired by the West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, should not give it a regional flavour. She should realize that whatever has been done is in the best interest of the team and no one has shut the door on Sourav. She should take the lead in putting this point across to the angry fans.

The other issue that needs to be looked into is all that happened at Eden Garden during the one-day match. Though Sourav had been picked for the coming Test series against Sri Lanka, the crowd shouted slogans in favour of Sourav, booed Chappell and Dravid and in retaliation, Chappell showed them the finger. I take strong objection to this behaviour which is disrespectful towards the Indian fans. Chappell’s behaviour was unbecoming of his stature as the national coach. While Chappell is definitely at fault, can we ignore what prompted him to resort to such action? People of Kolkata are known to be passionate towards sports and sports personalities. But what passion is this where you boo the Indian cricket captain? Sourav Ganguly has successfully captained India for five years and if now, he is dropped because of poor form, what is wrong in this? And what has Dravid done to deserve such treatment from his own countrymen? The crowd applauded Rahul Dravid’s dismissal and cried ‘Dravid, hai hai. Dravid Murdabad’. Slogans like ‘Chappell hatao, desh bachao’ and ‘Sachin hai, hai’ were also a regular feature of the day. Though Tendulkar has also not performed well, his run in the last one year is certainly better than Sourav’s.

The only conclusion that can be drawn when one hears slogans like “No Sourav, No Match” is that the fans want Sourav in the team at all costs, even if it does more harm to the team than good. Nationalism has lost to regionalism. They should focus on improving the reputation of the Bengali fans which, by past experience, is nothing to feel great about. Crowd trouble has been a regular feature at Eden. A Recap: Sunil Gavaskar and the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team were booed and pelted with oranges when they collapsed in a Test against Clive Lloyd’s West Indians in just over three days.

As the nation debates Chappel’s finger episode, which I strongly condemn, we must realise that Kolkata fans has once again put the nation to shame by their behaviour. An opinion poll conducted by The Telegraph(Kolkata) showed that an overwhelming number of people took Chappell’s gesture to be an insult to India. The interesting thing to note here is that the same people did not think twice about India’s image while booing the Indian team and the captain in front of a visiting team. It is time Kolkata fans take steps to improve their image and learn to behave themselves. Else every visiting country would have a story to tell when they return home.