Why Promote Ganga as Captain?
Thu, Aug 24, '06
The inaugural Stanford 20-20 tournament in Antigua has come and gone successfully, and no doubt it brought with it the kind of hype, excitement, television coverage and crowd attendance not seen in West Indies cricket for quite some time.
Through it all, there has been a not so subtle campaign by many regional commentators, particularly during the Stanford tournament, to promote Trinidadian Darren Ganga as the leading captain in the West Indies.
It has clearly represented a rather bold and blatant effort on the part of these commentators, not the least Ian Bishop, incidentally another Trinidadian, to use the Stanford 20-20 television forum in such a manner as to promote their own opinions rather than reporting factually on the game.
This excessive parading of Ganga, both on and off the field of play, can possibly be interpreted as a backhanded effort to suggest to cricket authorities and fans in the region that he is the best replacement for the incumbent Brian Lara, whenever that time comes around.
the campaign became even more evident in the final, in which, ironically, Guyana, led by current West Indies vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, and likely successor to Lara, beat the Ganga-led Trinidad and Tobago with one ball to spare in what was perhaps the best game of the tournament.
Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler turned cricket journalist, appears to have initiated the campaign. And many others, including the likes of Jeffrey Dujon and the venerable Tony Cozier, jumped on the band wagon.
An in-depth and knowledgeable analyst of the game during commentaries, Bishop must have been wearing only his Trinidadian cap when he invited Ganga several times into the media centre at the Stanford Cricket Ground to give comments. That privilege seems not to have been offered to anyone else.
Even when he was on the field of play, it became more and more obvious that an undue amount of time was being dedicated to speak with Ganga through the innovative microphone system set up by the Stanford organisers.
It got to the point of being ludicrous when Ganga was individually sought out for comments in personal interviews while watching one of the games with his teammates. Bishop must have known that viewers could have easily made this observation.
On the contrary, very little was noted of Sarwan's captaincy, his overall leadership of the his teammates and his batting in the final, which certainly played a major part in helping Guyana win the game.
Now there is no doubt that Ganga has quite remarkable public speaking skills and is a cut above the rest when it comes to commandeering his team on the field and possessing all-round knowledge of the game.
In addition, Ganga clearly earned the high respect of his teammates, both by giving a very competent display as captain and by batting well in the tournament. In fact, he also has a decent record as captain and batsman in regional tournaments throughout his career so far.
But there are many others who have good regional captaincy records, and did not go on to become successful West Indies captains -- Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are recent examples.
The difference with Hooper and Chanderpaul when they were appointed captain of the West Indies is that they were automatic choices on the team. Not the same can be said of Ganga, even with his good showing in the recent home series against India.
With an average of 26.74, it is already a mystery that Ganga has played 38 test matches. In the one day version, he averages 25.87 in 33 matches at a below par strike rate of 61.03.
Already, he has been given more chances than others like Devon Smith, who averages almost the same as Ganga (25.64), but has been chosen for only 16 tests. Runako Morton, though not an opener, averages 32.16 and has played only four tests, with his last innings being 70 not out against New Zealand.
Wavell Hinds, not a natural opener, but who has been used as opener for the West Indies, averages 33.01 in 45 tests. Ganga, in any event, does not open for Trinidad and Tobago, but was chosen to open for the West Indies in the recent tour of India ahead of Morton and Hinds.
Bishop and the other commentators must have known that Ganga needs a turnaround in his batting before any captaincy considerations at the senior level. Simply put, he needs to get to the point where he can command a place in the team beyond any doubt and controversy.
Captaincy of the West Indies team should be the last thing on Ganga's mind for now. And indeed on anyone else?s mind!