When Indian captain Sourav Ganguly bared his chest at Lord's to celebrate his team's rare win against England in the NatWest Trophy one-day final in 2002, the purists frowned.
His unassuming Pakistani counterpart Inzamam-ul-Haq has never been known for betraying emotions in public, his body language often staying the same in both defeat and victory.
The rival skippers for the upcoming Test series starting in Mohali on March 8 are as different as chalk and cheese. Inzamam is an examplar and Ganguly is a motivator.
Ganguly's shirt-waving act at Lord's was criticised by many, including former Indian skipper Kapil Dev, who believed it did not befit the stature of an international captain.
But it was a spontaneous reaction from Ganguly, who likes wearing his heart on his sleeve. When he took off his shirt and waved it vigorously in the air, he did not know his action would spark such a heated debate.
That was his way of reacting to a grand occasion as his team had successfully chased a massive 326-run target to savour one of the best moments in the history of Indian one-day cricket.
Unlike Inzamam, Ganguly is not the best batsman of his team, coming down the pecking order behind such luminaries as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. But his role as a motivator should not be underestimated.
{{/usCountry}}Unlike Inzamam, Ganguly is not the best batsman of his team, coming down the pecking order behind such luminaries as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. But his role as a motivator should not be underestimated.
{{/usCountry}}Ganguly is the most successful Indian Test captain, having led his team to 18 wins in 44 matches since taking over from Tendulkar in 2000. India have lost just one home Test series under his captaincy, against Australia earlier this season.
The 32-year-old took over the captaincy in troubled times during the match-fixing scandal and succeeded in making India a team to be feared.
Ganguly has been credited with backing youngsters passing through a lean patch. And he has been proved right as batsman Yuvraj Singh, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and paceman Zaheer Khan all benefited from his encouragement.