An honour Ganguly richly deserves

He has played 35 Tests since his dream debut at Lord's in 1996. And on Friday, Sourav Ganguly will fulfil one more dream. Though he has led India in one day internationals over the last eight months, this will be the first time that the 28-year-old Prince of Calcutta will lead India in a Test match. And few Indian captains have been more deserving of the honour.

Ever since he took over the captaincy in March a few things have become obvious about Ganguly's style and approach to the job. For one thing, he has been a vast improvement over his two immediate predecessors in communication skills. While Md Azharuddin was a disaster in this field, Sachin Tendulkar, though straightforward and more forthcoming, showed that he was not altogether comfortable in the area of media relations. Ganguly is a refreshing change. He is easily accessible, does not answer in monosyllables and is transparent in his dealings with the media.

There is also no denying the fact that overall, Ganguly is a better captain in other ways too than his two immediate predecessors. He has the team behind him, has displayed the ability to crack the whip if needed, leads from the front and has even scored a point or two in the matter of strategy and tactics. True, he has failed at crucial junctures, notably in the ICC knock out final at Nairobi and in the matches against Sri Lanka at Sharjah. But then with Ganguly one always has the feeling that he is still in the learning process and his best is yet to come.

Certainly he has won a lot of friends in Dhaka ever since the team's arrival on Tuesday. Granted, he has an obvious built in advantage, being a visitor from Bengal. That has crashed the language barrier and Ganguly has endeared himself by talking freely to the organisers and other people here. His greeting Bangladesh on the auspicious occasion and expressing the hope that Bangladesh would adjust to the longer version of the game quickly has gone down well. His remark at a press conference that Bangladesh is not abroad has become a hit, coming as it does from a Bengali from another part of Bengal. ''Perhaps it is a matter of coincidence, maybe an act of fate that Bangladesh is my first opposition in my first Test as captain of India. I am honoured and at the same time a bit excited.'' Offering encouragement and hope to Bangladesh, the Indian captain has said he is confident they will improve with the progress of time. ''It's a matter of time before Bangladesh become a good cricket side. All they need now is to play more international matches.''

This kind of talk has seen him already being hailed here as a goodwill ambassador. If this is his role, Ganguly is playing it to perfection. But come tomorrow and Ganguly will leave the niceties aside and wield the whip over his side to try and wrap up the Test in double quick time.