Ganguly is looking out of sorts & his struggle with the bat is tarnishing his legacy
It’s been painful to watch Sourav Ganguly bat in IPL III. Like a prized fighter whose ego refuses to acknowledge that his powers have indeed waned, Ganguly has walked out believing that he can deliver a performance befitting his stature.
Unfortunately, Ganguly’s timing, so impeccable in the past, seems to have deserted him. He remains a livewire on the field, marshalling his men energetically.
On the eve of the game against the Mumbai Indians, Ganguly worked hard in the nets against the likes of Shane Bond, Angelo Mathews and Ishant Sharma. But there comes a stage when even a salary of million-plus dollars a year and hours in the nets can’t nullify slower reflexes. Ganguly’s lack of form is obvious. His game in this edition of the IPL has largely been about mis-hits, edges and tentative pulls.
If this was Tests or even One-day internationals, Ganguly would have had time to build his innings, see off good spells and rotate the strike. In Twenty20 cricket, there’s hardly anytime to breathe.
After facing two balls in the first game against Deccan Chargers, Ganguly nicked the next from Chaminda Vaas to first slip. In the game against Royals Challengers Bangalore, Ganguly hit 23 off 22 after Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge had set the stage for victory. He scored just 11 off 20 against Chennai Super Kings. His 33 off 29 didn’t win KKR the game against Rajasthan Royals.
On Monday against the Mumbai Indians, Ganguly opened the innings. It was a brave move considering that Zaheer Khan has got his number in the past and Lasith Malinga is fast, skiddy. Ganguly was determined. It wasn’t a fluent innings but he showed a lot of heart to make 31 off 34 balls.
But when the time came to accelerate, he couldn’t slip out of second gear. In another time he would have read the spin, danced down the wicket and lofted off spinner Harbhajan Singh into the stands. On Monday, Ganguly was tentative to Harbhajan’s leg-stump line. Eventually, he misread the line and length of a flighted ball and was bowled.
Dada has made just 98 runs in five innings. But of greater concern is the manner in which he has gone about his business. He hasn’t played the attacking role, nor has he been able to transform into a solid accumulator who others bat around.
Sourav Ganguly has seen better days. And it pains to see him bat like this!
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