More equal than others
Deepak Joshi - 3 June 2002

India made history when, for the very first time, they won a one- day international against the West Indies - an emphatic win at that, by a seven-wicket margin. The victory no doubt came as a huge relief to millions of Indian fans, just as much as it would have to Sourav Ganguly and his team-mates.

Interestingly, the men responsible for it happened to be left- handed batsman Dinesh Mongia, who scored a characteristic, rock- solid 74, and speedster Tinu Yohannan, who more or less clinched the match for India by scalping three West Indian wickets with accurate and lively bowling. What was most refreshing about the achievement of these two youngsters was that this was their first real opportunity after sitting on the reserve bench for almost two months. Lesser mortals would have simply gone to pieces with that sort of harassment.

While Yohannan should have been the Man of the Match, I must say that Mongia’s attitude was a joy to watch. The best thing about him is the way he plans and paces his innings, always seeming to be in full control of the situation. He may never look spectacular like Virender Sehwag, but he never looks as vulnerable as Sehwag either. In Barbados, he showed a positive frame of mind in executing a short-arm pull as soon as he arrived; later he put the gentle off-spin of Carl Hooper in its place, sweeping him and then lofting him straight.

Mongia presented a picture of a man brimming with confidence, and it was quite pleasing to watch the Punjab left-hander establish himself in only his third innings overseas. "I was confident. It's just a game, and it all depends on your approach. I would love to win more matches for India, and I would have been happier had I finished the match," he said.

The southpaw did admit it that was frustrating to sit on the sidelines for two months even as he was dying to get into the playing XI. Surely India would do well to draft more mentally tough and determined youngsters like Mongia into their ranks rather then endlessly persisting with so-called "classy", "wristy"’ or "elegant" players who crumble as soon as a little pressure applied, just like the cookies that some of them endorse for additional commercial gains.

One of the intriguing things about Ganguly is that he goes out of his way to stick his neck out for the players he likes and believes in, at times even taking on all and sundry for their cause. The way he put his foot down for Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman etc. can hardly be forgotten. The true mark of a leader, I must say.

At the same time, if God forbid he has a personal bias against someone, the frightening thing is that he seems to go to illogical extremes to ruin the careers of such lesser souls. Sunil Joshi, Murali Kartik, Rahul Sanghvi fall in this lesser- mortal category. For the sake of Indian cricket, one prays that Dinesh Mongia doesn’t make his way into the latter grouping. It would be a pity to see a promising player like him going waste.

Mongia has a number of Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards in his cabinet after just a short career. His knocks have helped India win matches convincingly. Even so, every time Ganguly has very few words of praise to bestow on him. For the record, Ganguly's comment after the Kensington Oval win was: "Dinesh did well coming in at number three." He could not have said less about his Man of the Match if he had tried.

This is in sharp contrast to how eloquent he is about the match- winning prowess of Yuvraj Singh, Sehwag, Ajit Agarkar and others. Even after Mongia hit a massive 159 not out to snatch the series from Zimbabwe at Guwahati, Ganguly said, "I have always maintained that Yuvraj is a real match-winner. The Indian youngsters batted very well to come back from behind and take the series." Yuvraj had scored 80-odd in that same match.

I do hope my reading of the captain’s mind is totally wrong. Even so, during the recently concluded India-West Indies Test series, the way Mongia sat frustrated on the sidelines while Das was woefully out of form and more mediocre talents like Dasgupta and Sanjay Bangar got the nod doesn’t inspire confidence.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
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