Question of motives

The first press conference of Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president elect of the Indian cricket board, was even more vapid than expected. It was held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium after the first day's play of the first Test between India and Australia in an open dining hall. To expect a conference hall would of course be asking for too much from the richest cricket establishment in the world. The stadium had readied itself for the Test by covering its broken staircases with a red carpet, and the lift had been hastily painted a lurid green. Each day the post-play press conferences were held in the full view of gaping, clapping and hooting onlookers who had bought tickets to the club-house. Was it all part of a deal, you wondered.

"I was here," Mahendra said, "so I thought I'd say hello to you. You can ask me a few questions if you like." He then volunteered information that the BCCI was planning to honour Anil Kumble for his 400 Test wickets, and it was a cue for the press to ask if this would be in cash or kind. The BCCI is in a crisis, its credibility has hit rock bottom with an acrimonious election and a botch-up of the television-rights award, but amazingly there are people in the room who would rather know what the president elect thought of the day's play. Questions treading uncomfortable areas like television rights and the elections were neatly sidestepped on the pretext that these were now under the jurisdiction of the courts, and Mahendra concluded the session with a grand thank you before the real stars of the day, Kumble and Michael Clarke arrived.

If the Supreme Court decides to order a re-election, Mahendra might never become president. His claim to fame then would remain confined to having been described as a "disgrace" by Sourav Ganguly in a interview a couple of years ago. Mahendra was the manager of the Indian team on the tour to Australia in 1992 after which Ganguly was banished from international cricket for four years because of alleged attitude problems as reported by Mahendra in his tour report. Ganguly's quotes resurfaced in the media the day after Mahendra's election, causing embarrassment all around, but for many, the conduct of the BCCI itself is a disgrace.

Mildly put, Indian cricket is facing a leadership crisis. Administrators too are judged by their last innings and it will be both a travesty and a tragedy if Jagmohan Dalmiya is remembered for the last BCCI elections he presided over. Those who are truly worthy of power are rarely desperate to cling on it. All the good things Dalmiya has done for Indian cricket stand to get obliterated by his stubborn determination to keep Indian cricket under his thumb. Leaders stand apart by towering over the crowds, not by bending down to sully their hands in the dirt.

Ganguly is another leader whose character will be tested this season. On the strength of his performance, he has earned himself the right to be ranked among the truly exalted. He took over at a low point in Indian cricket history and since then he has led with passion and a commitment to win. He is already India's most successful leader abroad and under him, India have given Australia plenty of scraps and scares. It will be unfair to judge his legacy by the result of this series, but he will know only well the fickle nature of public memory.

One of Ganguly's most admirable qualities has been his ability to insulate his decision-making from external pressures. He is an unorthodox thinker and has the strength of character to stick by his convictions, and you wouldn't get a clearer proof of this than from the selection of the Indian team for the Chennai Test. He stuck by Zaheer Khan who looked off-colour in Bangalore and chose Yuvraj Singh, who was twice dismissed by Glenn McGrath hanging his bat outside off-stump in the first match, to partner Virender Sehwag in this Test.

You could pick holes in his logic, but you can see the thinking behind it: regardless of current form, Ganguly considers Yuvraj and Zaheer to be match-winners and is willing to stick his neck out for them. It's hard to imagine the other members of the team management - John Wright, Rahul Dravid (Sunil Gavaskar? Is he part of the management?) - subscribing to Ganguly's thinking, but as always, he is prepared to hang by his own beliefs.

Aakash Chopra will be entitled to consider himself unlucky, but it is better for him to be out of the XI than have a sword hanging over him. But it can be safely said that he is a victim not of malice but of an idea. During Australia's last tour of India, Ganguly fought for and retained Harbhajan Singh for the second Test in Kolkata with famous results and he has earned himself the right to go by his instincts.

Ganguly's decision may backfire, but there is a vital difference between his leadership and those who govern Indian cricket. He might occasionally choose the wrong path, but he can rarely be accused of the wrong motive.