Prince of Calcutta

Being a cricket freak, the first blog being one of cricket is no suprise. I am an ardent fan of Saurav Ganguly, also called Dadda by teammates and beloved fans. Having stood for everyone in the team during their off-colored days, now he seeks support from them in return. With Chappell becoming the national coach, let me write what I think he needs to do for Dadda.

The Bengal Tiger, perhaps, poses the biggest challenge for Greg Chappell. The new Indian coach will realize that Ganguly's captaincy is vital but before that Ganguly has to merit his place in the team as a batsman. Chappell has said that his strategy of getting players out of a poor run is to make them go back to their big performances and see what they were doing right. But then apart from Ganguly's struggle with form as batsman, there are other rougher edges to be smoothened out - inability to face the rising delivery, checking Ganguly's habit of playing too many shots to the third man region in the one-dayers, running between the wickets and the overall fielding standard. Chappell, in my mind, also has to help Ganguly decide on his right batting slot both in Tests and the one-dayers.

Having said all this, my heart goes out to Ganguly, and wish he returns well.