Sourav Ganguly taking off his shirt – football style – waving it around in belligerent triumph on the balcony of Lords after defeating England, is one of the epic images of world cricket. It was on this very day 17 years ago – 13 July 2002 – the final of the Natwest Trophy that marked a new epoch of Indian cricket. And Sourav Ganguly is the man credited with that new, transformed Indian team: underdogs to aggressive front runners. So what are we to make of Ganguly's recently made statement?
He said that it was “very hard with that team, because we had too many gentlemen.” And he wasn’t really joking. He was referring to the fact that few if any members of his team would follow his directions to sledge the opposition; indicating players such as Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. According to Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh was the only one who followed his instructions. Apparently, “The only ones holding the Indian flag were Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly.”
Now let me be clear, I think it is silly to think of cricket as a ‘gentleman's game’. That word itself is feudal sounding and meaningless in the modern context. And there is really no need for the courtly display of magnanimity on the field either. Winning is the aim and every player must do everything in their power to achieve this.
But why sledge? Why call other players and their family derogatory names? Sledging is about needless aggression and hostility. Players who sledge tell us that there is no need for simple courtesies and common decency in the sporting arena.
People credit Ganguly with changing the playing culture of the Indian cricket team and helping it embrace a new winning attitude. Perhaps that is true, but who is to say that aggression and hostility were necessarily constituents of winning? If we recall the best players of the time, we are likely to name the very ‘gentlemen’ that Ganguly spoke rather deprecatingly of: Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. So clearly they scored the runs required and wrote their names in the history books without resorting to rudeness and objectionable behaviour.
Ganguly commented that "There were a lot of issues in that team,” and that Harbhajan was the only one who followed instructions. “Sardarji did everything I told him to do," said Ganguly; including, presumably develop the sort of insensitive and offensive attitude that resulted in the ‘monkey-gate’ scandal (where Harbhajan was accused and later exonerated of making racist slurs against Andrew Symonds).
Of course it behooves every player to do everything in their power to win; to do their best. But sport is also about fair play, the ability to accept failure with good grace, about courtesy and about humility. There is a place for simple decency even when the player is giving it their 200%. To abandon that humility and that decency is to detract from the lofty ideals of the sport itself.
Current skipper Virat Kohli is another who is lauded for his aggression on the field and in the leading of his team. A deep self-assurance; self-confidence to the point of arrogance - these are very much part of his personality. Humility is not a trait we associate with him. This became quite evident when addressing the press shortly after India’s loss to Australia in the 2015 World Cup semifinal. Let me clarify that there is absolutely no excuse for abusive behaviour towards players; no matter how let-down fans may feel.
However, Kohli's comment that such people “should be ashamed of themselves,” did not sound as though he was taking responsibility for his poor performance. The sort of humility that should follow from a reasonably pedestrian outing in this world cup (including a one-run score in the crunch-match against NZ this time around) was not very evident. Kohli is used to adoring fans expressing adulation unreservedly. It would appear that he is rather less prepared for the brickbats when they come.
In the end, aggression and self-assurance may be all very well; but they aren’t the prerequisites for truly great players. There is always place for sportsmanship, fair play, courtesy and simple decency in sport. In my humble opinion, any player (including the Gangulys and Kohlis of the world) can only benefit from developing and refining these qualities.
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