New Delhi: Talk about a fable or a fairytale and you will find the protagonist going through all sorts of turmoil and problems but at the end he/she emerges the winner. Sourav Ganguly is one such protagonist of a fairy tale associated with Indian cricket. Ganguly has had his share of fame, success and troubles but eventually emerged as the winner in tune with fairy tales. After facing humiliation from the people he thought were his own and after having seen "unending decline" in his career, Ganguly is back again at the helm of affairs, not as the captain but more importantly as the leading run-getter for the Team India. He was named man of the match and also the series in the recently concluded Indo - Pak test series. His scores in the series read like this- 8, 48, 102, 46, 239, 91 in the six outings.

In all, the "God on the off–side", the sobriquet, once used by great fast bowler Wasim Akram for the come back man, scored a whopping 534 runs in the series. And, come to think of it, that at one point of time he was not even considered worthy of a place in the Test squad, lack of form and arrogance having been cited as reasons. But, the Bengal Tiger is roaring again and raring to take on the mighty Australians.

But, would not it be interesting to delve into the factors that made him the phenomena he is today? The most striking attribute of Sourav Ganguly's cricket persona is self believe with go-get it attitude. Making his test debut on the ruins of Navjot Siddu's exit controversy in 1996, the most successful captain of the country made his presence felt on the international stage by hitting a century at Lord’s in 1996. The sensational debut becomes even more significant when seen in the backdrop of the allegation that "he was a back-door entry courtesy Jagmohan Dalmiya". But, as he himself once put it, "We (Team India) don’t believe in history, we make one". And, there is no denying the fact that he got his names written boldly in the annals of cricket history.

But, Ganguly's real success story began when he was elevated to lead a bunch of players loosely knit to play for the country in 2000. He built a team, which thought differently, believed in itself, craved for victory, and entered the domain of on-field aggression hitherto the weapon of the English, the Australians alone. They showed to the Indians that winning is an attitude, a habit and that the game is not just played with the bat and a ball. They understood that there are other things in cricket which make difference than just a good century. They learnt that the gentleman’s game has changed characters. And, all this happened because the Bengal Tiger never shied from roaring at the opposition, whosoever it might be. The Team India had been put in place and "history made". And, most importantly the opprobrium of match fixing was put behind and Indian cricket marched ahead.

His knack of recognising talents made Ganguly the real emperor of Indian cricket. The Captain picked new talents, backed them up and made them believe that they can win matches for the country. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, India's only international tripple centurian Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan and a few others are the result of that process. He fought for his players, stood by them at difficult times and supported them till the end. Ganguly was a surprise for the old folks of Indian cricket for his all round aggression for the betterment of Indian cricket.

And this bunch of players who comprised Team India, in turn made Indian team and Ganguly a force to reckon with. The Indians beat the Australians 2-1 in the home series in 2001, won Natwest Trophy in England in 2002, Ganguly doing an Andrew Flintoff by swinging his shirt after the finals at Lords'. The Ganguly's boys surprised everyone during the World Cup in 2003 in South Africa by reaching to the finals against all speculations. The loosely knit team was transformed into tightly held together imperious Team India, which has to its credit a mind blowing series down under in 2003, ending 1-1, and the first ever series win in both the ODIs and Tests against Pakistan in Pakistan in 2004.