Dadagiri, in the reams of dictionaries, is a commonly used Indian word that means bossing around, or bullying and the likes. In the realms of Indian cricket, the word has become synonymous with former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Why? Because he is the Dada – meaning elder brother in his mother tongue, Bengali. But is he a bully as well? Definitely not, but he is certainly in-your-face and never backs away from a confrontation.
Andrew Flintoff, who thought sharing the Lancashire dressing room with Ganguly was “like having Prince Charles on your side”, found that out when the India captain, mimicking an earlier Flintoff celebration in Mumbai, took his jersey off and waved it like a crazed man from the balcony of Lord’s after his team had won the 2002 Natwest trophy final.
The English, understandably, never forgave Ganguly for that irreverence and he has been “Lord Snooty” for them since.
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Flintoff, of course, was not the first to describe Ganguly as “royalty” – his parents perhaps had an inkling for they nicknamed him “Maharaja”, which means a “great king”. English legend Geoffrey Boycott, a big admirer of Ganguly, called him “The Prince of Calcutta” adoringly.
Of course, many would disagree with Boycott. Former Australia captain Steve Waugh, asked his opinion about Ganguly after returning home from that epic 2001 series in India and naturally, he did not have nice words to describe him.
Ganguly is not all bad, though, but, to borrow the catchphrase from Adam Sandler’s Zohan, you don’t mess with the Dada and everyone in the world of cricket knows that.
Everyone, except Ravi Shastri.
Now, what was Shastri thinking? Sympathy was clearly on his side following Anil Kumble’s appointment as India coach because many felt he had done a decent job as the team director over the past 18 months – not great, but decent because, as Gautam Gambhir pointed out, India played two World Cups during Shastri’s tenure and lost in the semis on both occasions.
They were beaten at home by South Africa in a one-day series, lost a ODI series in Bangladesh and failed to win a series overseas.
Still, he was one of the favourites for the job, but then Kumble, by most suggestions, was a better candidate. Shastri, then, should have gracefully accepted the decision. Instead, he chose to suggest Ganguly somehow had a role to play in his rejection. Bad choice.
Now, Shastri’s bombast has taken him places in the past, but the attack on Ganguly was clearly miscalculated. It was not unexpected though, for as former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wrote on twitter, “More than Sourav, I think Ravi is miffed with the rejection. It’s a new experience for him”.
Indeed, it is a new experience for Shastri. A favourite of the mandarins, he is the Mr Teflon of Indian cricket, surviving the bitter Indian cricket board politics to stay relevant. He has worn many different hats, under different reigns, and rejection has remained at a fair distance from him.
Mr Teflon, however, had lost a lot of his sheen in recent times. Since the ouster of N Srinivasan, media reports have regularly talked about his imminent departure from the corridors of power. It is surprising then, that a man, known for his cunning, did not see the writing on the wall – not even after the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to advertise for the coach’s job.
If they wanted him, they would have offered him the job, but then, as Manjrekar pointed out, Shastri was probably blind to the rejection and now, in his disappointment, has probably done himself more harm than good.
Everyone knew Shastri and Ganguly were not the best of friends, at least not since the time Ganguly decided to end his contract with WorldTel in 2000, and Shastri was a go-between for the late Mark Mascarenhas’ company.
As a TV commentator or print columnist since, Shastri has not been very charitable towards Ganguly, or his captaincy, but the feud had always remained under the wraps.
Now, Shastri has chosen to take the lid off and this war of words is not about to end anytime soon.
It will continue, both overtly and covertly, so stay tuned.
The gloves are off and, as some twitter users have gleefully pointed out, Shastri is now going to find out what Dadagiri is all about.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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