For his critics, too, he is the maharaj. But this time, the use of the pet name has pejorative connotations.

While playing for the BCCI XI on one occasion, Saurav Ganguly was fielding in the deep and failed to get down fast enough to stop a stroke. The ball raced to the fence, and the commentator, himself a former first class cricketer, snidely remarked: ``He is a maharaj, he does not know how to bend.''

This was not, however, the first time that India's newest cricket star came in for mockery, partly thanks to his nickname, partly to his affluent background. Eight years ago, when Ganguly toured England for the first time as part of the Star Cricket Club XI, team manager Kailash Ghattani complained that Ganguly had asked someone else to pack and carry his bags for him.

``Saurav would never do that,'' says his indignant mother. ``He is the kind of person who loathes snobbery.''

``He has been playing cricket for the last nine years, but even during the days when he was just playing for his club, he would never ask one of our drivers or gardeners to carry his bags,'' recalls his mother (seen here with her husband and star son). ``Dilip Doshi (the former India spinner), who used to coach Saurav when he was with the Sporting Union Club (in Calcutta) used to tell his boys that carrying the cricket bag was part of the game. And Saurav always made sure he carried his own kit bag, I don't know how Ghattani could have said something so blatantly false about my Saurav.''

Like most good Bengali children, the young Saurav's head was full of dreams of making it as a football player, despite the fact that his is a cricketing family. ``Football attracted him more than cricket,'' recalls his father, Chandi Ganguly. ``But I knew even then that Saurav would never make it in that sport, in any event football does not have much future in India.

``Once,'' Ganguly senior recalls, ``he was playing cricket for a local club, and I was surprised by his talent. Even though he had never had any coaching till then, he played every ball perfectly. So I persuaded him to continue playing cricket.''

At age 12, Saurav first hit the limelite when he turned out for his school, St Xaviers'. The promise he showed there ensured that a year later, he was inducted into the Askhuram Cricket Coaching Centre, organised by the Aryans Club of Calcutta, and in due course, at age 15, inducted into the Bengal junior side.

It was at the same age that he was chosen to tour England, under manager Ghattani.

Saurav's early inspiration was elder brother Snehashish Ganguly (right of picture, with younger brother Saurav on the left), a Bengal Ranji trophy star. In fact, it was Shehashish who was expected to represent India. The elder of the Ganguly brothers, though, failed to make the grade despite several call-ups to selection and coaching camps.

``I had always dreamt that one of my sons would one day represent the country in the international circuit,'' says father Chandi Ganguly, who has played first class cricket for Bengal and is now a trustee board convenor for the Cricket Association of Bengal, reputedly only of the richest cricket clubs in the world. Ganguly senior, incidentally, is also a member of the Marleybourne Cricket Club.

``When my elder son failed to make it to the international level, I was a bit disappointed,'' admits Ganguly senior.

Saurav, for his part, made his Ranji Trophy debut in 19891990, in the West Bengal versus Delhi finals at the Eden Gardens. Bengal won, much to the surprise of everyone, and Saurav who had played a stellar role in that win was called up for the Indian tour of Australia in 1991.

That was a dream come true for Chandi Ganguly, but a nightmare for his younger son. Saurav was capped first for a one-day match in the triangular series, and on a pitch tailormade for pacemen found himself totally at sea against the pace of Anderson Cummins. Saurav edged a perfect outswinger behind the wicket, and the carping criticism began again - Bengali bhagta hai (The Bengali is running away).

``I thought he would be given some scope to establish his potential, but he was included in just that one day international, and then never given any more chances,'' says Ganguly senior, even today feeling that long ago disappointment.

When Saurav returned after that tour, his family found that he had become even more introverted than before. ``But his anger, and determination, were evident,'' brother Snehashish said.

Saurav's elder brother believes, in retrospect, that his failure in Australia has done his sibling good. ``From that point, cricket became his obsession,'' Snehashish recalls. ``All his time was taken up with practise and exercises, as he went about the task of perfecting his game.''

The results began to show as early as 1992, when he hit the big time with seven centuries, including two double hundreds, in Ranji and Duleep trophy competitions. ``The patience he showed and his determination surprised even us,'' recalls Snehashish. ``Earlier, he used to go out and score a flashy fifty or so and come away. Now, he became insatiable, even a century didn't seem to satisfy him.''

Saurav's favourite strokes, recalls his brother, were - and remains - the square and cover drives. And unlike the common theory that left-handers are naturally weak outside off-stump, Saurav's driving on the off is the greatest feature of his batsmanship.

Saurav's mother, father and brother were glued to the television as Saurav cut and drove the English attack to ribbons en route to his epochal century on debut at Lord's. And amidst their celebrations, the Ganguly family make it a point to mention that former Test star Arun Lal and former Bengal opener Gopal Bose deserve the kudos for Saurav's improvement.

If they have a grouse, it is against the media. ``Most of the upcoming players from Bombay and South India get tremendous exposure in the media, but for Sourav there has only been criticism. It has been so bad, it could even have ruined his talent,'' rues Snehashish.

The elder of the Ganguly brothers sees the Lord's century as merely the beginning. ``See,'' he says, ``in India it is more difficult to get into the national side than to stay in it.''

``We are of course delighted that Saurav scored a hundred at Lord's, the Mecca of cricket,'' adds the obviously proud father Chandi. ``But we are not exuberant about it. We want to see him play for India for a long time.''

The palatial Ganguly residence, on the southern outskirts of Calcutta, is now thronged with visitors who have come to congratulate the family. ``But when Saurav came back from Australia with a broken heart, there was no one to console him, there was only us,'' says his mother.

The Gangulys are rich enough to provide Saurav every facility he needs to develop, including a well equipped gym of his own at home, and a cricket pitch on the family grounds where he can practise to his heart's content.

``But,'' says his doting mother, while Chandi Ganguly nods approval, ``what use is a gym and a pitch if he did not have talent? And that is one thing that God has given him, and no one can take away from him.''