Ganguly has it in him to be one of India's finest captains

Nobody's perfect, as we all know ­ or at least should know. But the Indian cricket captain has to be an exception. That is, in the eyes of the unforgiving Indian cricket fan. I have never understood this uncharitable notion but that's the way it is. Little wonder then that there has been this great debate of late on whether Sourav Ganguly should be allowed to continue in the top job. As far as I am concerned, there should never have been any debate. He is not perfect as I said nobody is ­ but in my view, Ganguly should be the undisputed leader much in the same way Ajit Wadekar was in the early 70s, Sunil Gavaskar ten years later and Md Azharuddin in the early 90s.

A captain who led the country to inarguably its greatest ever Test series victory at home in March is being vilified just a few months later? For the life of me, I just cannot fathom this kind of fickleness. The man has guts, is a no nonsense cricketer, almost a born leader and there is serious talk of replacing him a year and a half after he stepped into the hot seat. Serious enough for a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India to berate him in front of junior players, tell him that it is time he went and ask Rahul Dravid to be prepared to lead the team to South Africa. Well, Raj Singh Dungarpur too is not perfect. The former Rajasthan and Central Zone captain is, to borrow Jim Swanton's phrase, "a sort of a cricket person" but on this occasion he was being over dramatic.

But being over emotional is part of the Indian cricketing psyche. One triumph and the captain is lifted to the levels of a demigod. One defeat and he is brought down to earth with a sickening thud. Putting things in proper perspective has hardly been a feature of anything associated with Indian cricket. The treatment to Ganguly has been in keeping with this unhealthy tradition.

Of course he has now been appointed captain of the team to South Africa. But the events leading up to the selection have been quite unpleasant. The melodramatics, the unfair criticism and baseless allegations against Ganguly left a bad taste in the mouth. What did he do to merit all this?

True, his form with the bat suffered. True, the team went down in a Test in Zimbabwe and lost the Test series in Sri Lanka. True, he was pulled up by the match referee on a couple of occasions and served a one match suspension. But should one have eyes only for this? What about the achievements?

As I said, the series victory over Australia was inarguably the greatest triumph ever at home. If one points out to losing a Test in Zimbabwe, let me point out that in 1992, Zimbabwe playing their maiden Test, had the better of a drawn game against India. And six years later, they won the only Test played. As regards losing to Sri Lanka, it is well known that they are a formidable opposition at home, much like India is. And if England and Pakistan have won a series there in recent times, let me again point out that both these countries are ahead of India in the Test ratings.

Which brings me to one major point Ganguly's critics conveniently overlook. He has never led a full strength Indian side. Missing from the team he led to Sri Lanka were Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble and, after the first Test, Javagal Srinath. Just draw a mental picture of any other country playing Tests without their two leading batsmen (let alone one of them being the best in the world), two frontline opening bowlers and the country's ace spinner for the last decade, and honestly decide for yourself how they would fare. Indeed, Ganguly has been denied the services of Kumble for the past year.

With all this, Gangly has won three Tests abroad, something that only MAK Pataudi and BS Bedi among Indian captains have achieved. And a record of six wins in eleven Tests with four losses and a draw gives him a success percentage of about 60 percent. His record as captain in ODIs is better than average. Moreover, he is a leader who stands by his players, is not afraid of taking on the establishment when it comes to cricketing matters and his approach to the job is very much in keeping with the times.

Sure, there are flaws. Nobody's perfect, remember? Tactically, Ganguly has still a lot to learn. He is moody and lets things drift when things are not going well. He has to learn to curb his temper and keep in mind there is a thin line between aggression and petulance. He should not let the pressures of captaincy affect his classy batsmanship. Potentially, however, Ganguly at 29 has it in him to become one of the most successful Indian captains of all time. It took him over four years in the wilderness to unleash his skill as a batsman. He will not need that much time to prove his leadership skills. Now if only officialdom, the media and the cricket fans let him be.