Saurav Ganguly Case

8/3/2019 Saurav Ganguly Case

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CASE STUDY ON LEADERSHIP OF CHARISMATIC AND CONTROVERSIAL FORMER INDIAN CRICKET CAPTAIN

This case is about the charismatic and controversial former captain of the Indian national

cricket team, Sourav Ganguly (Ganguly). The case outlines the emergence of Ganguly as a leader, his

spectacular rise and subsequent fall from grace. Ganguly became the captain of the team in 2000, when it was

in a deep crisis. Over the next few years, with the help of the coach John Wright, he soon turned the team into

a combative unit. His team building skills, impartiality and, guts displayed in supporting his team members

through thick and thin, endeared him to the team. Experts credited him with instilling a sense of aggression in

the team. Ganguly soon became the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket.

The case also discusses the fall of Ganguly in 2005 and his public spat with Coach Greg Chappel

(Chappell) which led to his exit from the team. With a section of the media running a vilification campaign

against him and the team management being clear that it did not want him back in the team, the international

career of Ganguly seemed to be over. Since age was not on his side, few felt that Ganguly could make a

comeback into the team. But Ganguly refused to announce his retirement and continued to fight to win back

his place in the team despite all the odds.

The case will help understand various issues in human resource management and

organizational behavior such as leadership, motivation, team building, etc.

In a single day he can provoke exasperation, infuriation, and congratulations [Sourav] is a

mixture of dashing cricketer, disdainful aristocrat, protesting youth, charming socialiser, glorious leader and

fierce competitor."1

- Peter Roebuck, former cricketer, newspaper columnist and radio commentator.

"[Ganguly's] deft management skills, I know, have also influenced many of us in the corporate world. Sourav

has demonstrated very effectively all the qualities of a corporate leader. Sourav has demonstrated how to

build and manage a team; how to succeed at home and to replicate that success overseas. Sourav has

demonstrated the importance of getting the best resources and talent; motivating them; and to emerge as a

serious player in a competitive environment."2

- B Muthuraman, managing director, Tata Steel, in 2004..

"Sourav is an example of an outstanding leader who was willing to take strong, hard stands. He also managed

his team well and backed a number of young players He failed because of a certain situation he could not

handle. Every leader succeeds and fails depending on the situation s/he is working under."4

- Harsha Bhogle, Television commentator and cricket columnist, in 2006.

A Charismatic and Controversial Leader In February 2006, after the Indian cricket team's tour of

Pakistan, Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly (Ganguly) was axed from the Indian test squad. Earlier, he had also

been dropped from the one day international (ODI) team.

Ganguly, who was considered an inspirational leader and the most successful captain of the

Indian cricket team, found himself out of the team he had built and captained since the last five years.

Ganguly, who hailed from the city of Kolkata in West Bengal,6 was first selected to play for the Indian nationa

cricket team during the 1991-92 tour of Australia.

However, after the series he was dropped from the national squad. In 1996, Ganguly made a

comeback to the national team and quickly rose to prominence in the international cricketing arena. He was

considered to be very competitive and often got under the skin of the opponent. While he got the nicknames



"The Prince of Calcutta' and the 'Royal Bengal Tiger', and was affectionately called Dada by his team mates, he

also earned the nickname 'Lord Snooty' from the competitors and the foreign media.

Ganguly got the job of captaining the Indian cricket team in 2000, when Indian cricket was

going through a turbulent phase. The match-fixing scandal had left an indelible imprint on Indian cricket with

some prominent players being banned from the game. In addition to this, the team had lost a rare test series

at home and the morale of the team was at its lowest. Bitter from his previous experience, India's cricketing

icon, Sachin Tendulkar (Tendulkar) declined the captaincy. By default, the captaincy came to Ganguly. Ganguly

wanted a professional foreign coach and accordingly in November 2000, former New Zealand cricketer, JohnWright (Wright) joined the Indian team as coach...

Under Ganguly's leadership, various cultural changes were brought about in the Indian team.

Ganguly who was considered a very aggressive player soon instilled aggression in the team and the team

started performing well.

The legendary former Australian captain Steve Waugh (Waugh) said, "I saw in Sourav a

committed individual who wanted to inject some toughness and combativeness into a side that had often

tended in the past to roll over and expose a soft underbelly."

The team members, especially the young crop of players that Ganguly had helped groom, werevery loyal to the captain.

The fact that Ganguly was considered the first Indian captain who was free from the ills of

parochialism, and his courage to stand up to the powers-that-be in the interests of team members, endeared

him to the team. Under Ganguly, the team started winning away from home, something at which it had never

been very good. The crowning glory of Ganguly's career came in the 2003 World Cup when India played in the

finals after 20 years. India was being viewed as the team that could challenge Australia as the leading team in

world cricket. Ganguly was considered as the best Indian captain ever due to the good run the Indian team

had under his leadership.

However, his personal batting performance suffered during the mid-2000s. With the team toonot doing too well from late 2004, calls for dropping Ganguly from the team started gaining ground in certain

quarters. However, despite his personal batting form, his supporters in the team did not see any reason for a

change in leadership. The fact that the BCCI bigwig Jagmohan Dalmiya12 (Dalmiya) was a staunch supporter of

Ganguly also helped him remain captain. However, by early 2005, Wright had announced his decision not to

renew his contract and Ganguly lobbied to get Greg Chappell (Chappell), the famous former Australian

cricketer, appointed as the coach. However, Chappell's entry into Indian cricket spelled doom for Ganguly's

international cricketing career.

Background Note Ganguly was born on July 8, 1972, in an affluent family of Kolkata (previously,

Calcutta), India. In his childhood, soccer was his first interest and he played for the school team for four years

Later his interest shifted to cricket.

Emergence as Leader In 2000, when Ganguly took over as captain, Indian cricket was at its

nadir. The match fixing scandal had taken its toll with some senior players including former captain

Mohammed Azharuddin and cricketer Ajay Jadeja being banned from the game. The morale of the team was

at an all-time low. The team, considered 'tigers at home', had just lost its first home series in many years to

South Africa. In fact, Ganguly was not the first choice for the captaincy. He got the job as Tendulkar was

reluctant to take on the additional responsibility of captaincy...



SOME HALLMARKS OF GANGULY'S LEADERSHIP VISION

Ganguly was considered as a leader with a vision, who could set goals and inspire his team-

mates. Experts credited Ganguly with bringing in an optimistic vision to Indian cricket. Ganguly felt that India

could achieve better success in international cricket than it had been doing till then...

Getting the Better of the 'Iceman The rivalry between Ganguly and Waugh was a part of

cricketing folklore. Experts felt that Ganguly had turned "antagonizing opponents into an art form".72 Ganguly

even managed to get under the skin of the usually unflappable Waugh.

Beginning of the Decline While Ganguly was going about building the team and nurturing the

youngsters in the team, his own personal form had started to decline.

The Infamous Public Spat Chappell had some reservations about Ganguly's ability to the lead

the side. He favored Dravid as captain as he felt that he was better placed to lead the team.

Chappell Gets His Way Ganguly's problems were compounded in the end of September 2005,

when Dalmiya was defeated by Pawar in the BCCI elections.

On the same day of winning the elections, Pawar axed the selectors who had been sympathetic

to Ganguly. It was widely believed that Ganguly's era was over. The selection committee led by Moreappointed Dravid as captain. In October 2005, Ganguly was dropped from the ODI squad. In November 2005,

Ganguly was sacked as captain of the Indian test squad...

More Criticisms of Ganguly With the doors to the team being shut, Ganguly was forced to

spend time playing domestic cricket. Experts felt that while his audacity and habit of speaking his mind had

earned him respect in cricketing circles, they had also served to make him a lot of enemies who were waiting

for a weak moment to pounce...

The Fighter Refuses to Quit Despite all the criticism, when Ganguly was dropped from the

squad, many Indian fans, especially fans in his home state West Bengal were upset. There was also a sympathy

wave for Ganguly. Ganguly's fan following knew no national borders.

Even in Pakistan, he had a huge fan following though he performed exceedingly well against the

archrivals. Whenever Indian journalists went to Pakistan, the fans asked about Ganguly and expressed their

displeasure at how he had been treated by his countrymen.

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Saurav Ganguly Case