Engrossing Fare

The similarities between the two are startling. Both Hooper and Ganguly have sat out of the team for a brief period, only to make an emphatic comeback. Both have a fair number of critics to contend with who have attacked them at regular intervals for their attitude, underperformance and unimaginative leadership. Though Ganguly can put all that behind (riding the success of his team in the recent past, especially in this calendar year), Hooper may not enjoy the same comforts.

While Ganguly’s team may be fresh with memories of the recent wins, Hooper and his men will have to console themselves with the 2-1 Test victory against India in May this year. And Ganguly is blessed with a mix of experienced campaigners and talented youngsters. Hooper, on the other hand, is struggling to forge a team out of a shadow of the feared Windies team of yore.

But when it comes to personal record Hooper has more to show than Ganguly. At 35, he definitely has better cricketing wisdom. Hooper is the only cricketer to score over 5,000 runs and take over 100 catches and 100 wickets in both forms of the game. Hooper has scored 5,638 runs from 99 Tests at an average of 36.84 and has reached the three-figure mark 13 times. He has 27 fifties with his highest score being the magnificent 233 made against India at Bourda this year.

Has Hooper ever lost form? Perhaps never..... "I was getting those 30s and 50s but I was unable to convert them into 100s. That was a problem and I don’t know why.... But the break helped me," he once admitted. The break? It was a time when his son Carl Junior was not well. Hooper had to be with his family in Australia. The West Indies was gearing up for the World Cup in England in 1999 when Hooper retired. The news shook the Caribbean Isles and the ‘deserter’ tag trailed him. Hooper returned as captain of the team in 2001 for the home series against South Africa. The Caribbeans lost 1-2.

But since returning as skipper, Hooper has played 19 Tests and scored 1,485 runs to average 49.5 with four centuries and nine fifties. This year, he has already scored 772 runs from nine Tests at an average of 59.38. Hooper’s greatest innings is not his 233 made against India this year, nor his unbeaten 94 against England which gave the West Indies a famous Test win but his majestic 178 not out made against Pakistan in the 1992-93 series at St John’s. So far Hooper has not been particularly successful as skipper, winning only 4 Tests, losing 9 and drawing 6.

"Nothing is permanent. I just want my team to improve. We have the nucleus of a good side. Here, people have written us off after Brian (Lara) was ruled out, but if we play good cricket, people will revise their opinions," he is reported to have said.

Ganguly, on the other hand, is still learning. But learning well. The praise for him came from Australian captain Steve Waugh: "Ganguly is the best person to lead India. He is competitive, demanding and knows exactly what he wants from his players."

"I have enduring memories of India. I made my Test debut here, got my first Test century (100 n.o. at Calcutta 1987) and my first one-day hundred (113 at Gwalior, ’87) here. I love Indian food and back home in Guyana, 60 per cent of the population is Indian," Hooper says, "and hopefully if things go well, we will beat the Indians and I can celebrate."

This battle between two of the toughest cricketers in the world promises to be nothing less than engrossing.