Sourav needs all the support to turn it around

Moody. Aloof. Technically inadequate...the allegations still fly thick and fast when one talks about the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.
But surprisingly enough, not many of his peers would like to step into his shoes - which is often called the second most important job in India after the Prime Ministership. This is precisely the reason why he would need all the support when Ganguly leads the ''Men in Blue'' into the eighth World Cup in less than three weeks from now.
During the New Zealand nightmare, the Prince of Kolkata was candid enough to admit that things were never as bad for him ever since taking charge of the team in 2000 - both with his personal form as well the team''s fortunes.There have been occasions, like in the first year of his captaincy when Ganguly was in roaring form - especially in One-day cricket - but the team was floundering with an alarming regularity in the finals. Then came a stretch in 2001 when his drought of runs was offset by some of the most enduring success of the team like the Test series triumph over Steve Waugh & Co.
However, there was no such respite for him in New Zealand. As the team continued to take a battering in both forms of the game - Ganguly''s bat yielded a total of 29 runs in the four Test innings while he managed to get into double figures only twice in the seven One-dayers! Worse still, the dismissals came more by way of the tentativeness of a batsman short on confidence or desperation rather than being bounced out.
What, however, is encouraging that he had shown the maturity to take it all on his chin and move on. "The remedy lies in all of us looking back and thinking about the good run we have had and not to sulk over what has gone by," Ganguly said the other day.
The same should hold true in his case also - for Ganguly did have a fine run with the bat in the One-dayers the last time India toured the Protealand in late 2001.
An owner of 8255 ODI runs with as many as 19 centuries, Ganguly is certainly there among the top five ODI batsmen in the world. His experience of the last World Cup, where he was the second highest scorer among the Indians after Rahul Dravid, should also give him the fillip to give his best shot - and hope for the best !