India in 90s was very lopsided ODI team.
Azhar and Jadeja were good batters but extremely inconsistent and prone to long droughts.
Srinath and Kumble were good bowlers but both had just avg records against SL/Pak/Aus on flat tracks which was majority of ODI cricket India played.
Support players like Manjrekar, Kambli, Mongia played several matches but never really repaid investments. Fact that journeyman player like Robin Singh was only one who exceeded his potential and played so many games says a lot of that squad's quality
All in all SRT had an average team and plus hangover of some senior players, transition problems and lack of much pull with regional selectors who were playing their own games made it difficult for him to produce results.
People like to say that force of personality, born leader blah blah but situation, luck and circumstances often determine how good a captain is allowed to become.
Ganguly had many small advantages which helped him establish credibility and gave him control over team.
Firstly there was clear out of old pros and SRT clearly declined captaincy so there was no rival within dressing room or tensions.
Secondly Ganguly himself had by 2000 matured into ODI matchwinner which gave him credibility and took pressure off SRT. Dravid also had become ensconced as a class player in ODI and Test formats by 2000.
Thirdly, Ganguly was lucky to find 4 good decade long talents - Yuvraj, Zaheer and Sehwag within a year who while they took few yrs to become consistent , were contributing much more as support players per match than the 90s broken records.
Fourth, Ganguly had some early luck with good runs in ICC Knockout and NZ home which gave him a good credit line with fans and board in starting period
Fifth, by 2001 Jagmohan Dalmiya also from Kolkata and Ganguly's long time backer (until their fallout in late 2000s) became president of BCCI. This helped Ganguly consolidate backroom power and get strong influence and veto level input in selectorial meetings unlike SRT who kept getting foisted with players he knew nothing about.
Finally Laxman, Harbhajan, Dravid and SRT won 'that' Aussie Series for Ganguly. Despite a personally poor series with bat and some not too sharp declarations (waiting on 5th day Kolkata about half an hr too late), Ganguly basically had an unlimited credit line as captain by its end. Even a poor result like Zimbabwe 1-1 away wasn't scrutinized much in euphoria of that series win and Ganguly train just kept rolling.
