Write down a fictitious interview with Sourav Ganguly
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Answer:
Explanation:
Sourav Ganguly, Puma bat in hand, is ensconced in a large sofa in the coffee shop of the Marriott Royal hotel, a gothic structure in Bristol's College Green area. Overlooking him - Maharaj to many in Bengal - are portraits of English monarchs. He's served coffee by a Bengali waitress, who blushes when asked for the bill: "For you, sir, it's complimentary."
A few metres from the hotel stands a life-size statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a political hero in Bengal and a pioneering Indian social and religious reformer. Ganguly had paid a visit to the spot that morning and garlanded the icon. Roy, who died in Bristol, played a big part in Bengal's Renaissance movement back in the early 19th century; about two hundred years on, Ganguly was to achieve the cricket equivalent. It was under him that India took their first steps towards improving their abysmal away record.
"Enormous," he thunders, when asked how much India have improved on their travels over the last few years. "Honestly our overseas performance since 2000 has been very, very good. The tag of 'we don't travel [well] abroad' is not fair."
He's fidgeting with his bat, twirling it as if getting ready to enter the field. It's probably the same chunk of wood that transformed into a wand during his incandescent 57 at The Oval, an innings that effectively put a seal on the Test series. "I don't think we would have lost either way yaar," he shrugs when asked about the stunner. "But I'm batting well." Surely India's new Mr Dependable is doing more than just batting well? "The good thing is its been under crucial situations. Like at The Oval. Even in Nottingham [his 79 in the second Test], the morning session against the new ball turned the Test match in our favour. That's what is expected of you when you've been around for so long."
More bat twirls. This is fast resembling Lt. Daniel Kaffee's quirky baseball manoeuvres in A Few Good Men.
***
Before he arrived at the Marriott, Ganguly spent half an hour patiently attending to media requests. At the end of India's practice session at the County Ground, reporters from nine television channels hovered around him, taking turns to ask three to four questions each. Switching effortlessly between English, Hindi and Bengali, he patiently responded to all. It's almost as if he had slotted it as 'media day'. He's not the captain anymore, hasn't been for a couple of years, and isn't forced to face the press every other day.
"Obviously not being captain has helped," he says, gently feeling the Puma marker on his bat. "When you're captain you get involved in a lot of things. You're trying to get the best out of players and subconsciously, without knowing, it gets to you. At the end of the day you return to the room tired. You're working on everyone, on the team, on yourself. Slowly, slowly it affects you."
An hour earlier Rahul Dravid responded to a variety of questions, first from the television media, then radio, then print, then radio again. Some questions related to India's crushing loss in the first one-dayer, others left him speechless. "Sachin Tendulkar has scored two hundreds on this ground from No. 4," cried out one reporter, implying that Tendulkar should bat at that position in the second ODI. Dravid deflected it with, "Thanks for telling me", before breaking into a laugh.
"It's hard work yaar," says Ganguly. "I understand what Rahul goes through and I keep on telling him, 'You should not take things to heart'. Because there are too many things happening. If he starts worrying about everything, he'll be a goner. I'm sure he understands. He knows what he's doing."
Ganguly would know best. Five years ago, during India's previous tour to England, it was him in the hot seat. So hot was the seat that he ended up rubbing people the wrong way. 'Lord Snooty', they termed him. Yet on all his three trips, starting with his fairytale start in 1996, he has left an indelible imprint with his batting.
"I love coming to this country," he beams. "The facilities, the travel, the hotels ... it's comfortable, it's not tiring. We've been here for more than two months and honestly I'm not tired, I'm not homesick. It's great, man. It feels like home."