04 January,2011 09:49 AM IST | | Sai Mohan
Au00a0wise man once said that being yourself will never gain you popularity points. For in the new world order, you are expected to abide by certain principles and a school of thought. He also said that it is a leader's job to give his pupil the freedom of thought, so he could extract the best out of him, and lend him unconditional support.
That's the sort of faith Sourav Ganguly had in his players. The likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan are all by-products of Dada. So what about S Sreesanth? Sure, he's the loner, is constantly made fun of in the Indian dressing room and rarely taken seriously. But, Sreesanth has almost single-handedly led India to two Test wins in South Africa, in Johannesburg (2006-07) and Durban (2010-11), accolades that deserve a pat on the back. So, is he getting that? Sreesanth has had a history of causing trouble, but so have the likes of Roy Keane, Dennis Rodman, John McEnroe, Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds.
That doesn't make any of these individuals lesser sportspersons. They are all champions in their own right.
When Harbhajan sledged Symonds at SCG two seasons ago, the Governments of two nations got involved, and the issue threatened to end the tour. In fact, every Indian cricketer came out publicly in his support. Double standards? Maybe.
