End of the Gangulian Era

10th October 2008

Sourav Ganguly, one of the finest left handers India has ever produced is retiring after test series against Australia. First of all I would like to congratulate Sourav for such a fantastic career and his tremendous contribution to Indian cricket. The decision really caught me off-guard as soon as saw the news. I was seriously hoping and praying if it was not true but it was. I must confess that he has had a huge impact on my life. There are so many things that I have learned from him over the years. May be timing of his call was not the perfect one but that’s the way it goes. He was just not himself after being dropped from the Rest of India squad against Delhi. The age was not on his side to make a comeback again which he is famous for over the years, be it a come back in 1996 against England at Lords where he scored the most elegant hundred that you will ever see or against the might South Africans in December 2006. One of his great qualities was his self-belief. He showed the Indian team what it takes to win overseas. His image will always be of a leader who showed his team how to believe in themselves.

Sourav had to struggle for each and everything he has achieved. At times life has really been unfair to him. His first love has always been football. How he started playing cricket is a different story itself. His brother Snehashish Ganguly was a Ranji cricketer of Bengal. Sourav used to attend the practice sessions along with his brother. He is a right hander naturally but he eventually took guard as a left hander. Who would have imagined that this young block will turn into one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Young Sourav started taking his cricket seriously and was selected for Bengal squad against Rajasthan. His brother, then the captain of Bengal was dropped and Sourav was included in his place. It was really a paradox situation for him. He was happy to be selected for Bengal on one side, on other side he was sad because his brother was dropped. Playing in his first Ranji match he scored a fine hundred against Rajasthan and he had scored tons of runs. The selectors couldn’t ignore him anymore and he was selected for the tour down under in a tri-series against Australia and West Indies. He played just one match against West Indies and he was dropped from the Indian team, the reason has still been a mystery to many. Some said that he is not a good team-man, some said that he refused to carry drinks onto the field as a 12^th man. Just 19 then, Sourav put all that behind him and started working hard but he had to wait for 4 long years to make a comeback. He was selected for the England tour in 1996 for 3 test match series. There was lot of speculations regarding his selection. Some said that he made it to the squad because of the Quota System. Many eyebrows were raised and there was lot of speculation on his selection. But Ganguly silenced all his crictics by scoring an exquisite 131 on his debut. After India had lost the first test match, Sanjay Manjrekar was dropped from the playing 11 and Navjot Singh Sindhu left the tour in between for some personal reason. That gave chance to 2 legends Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to make their test debut in Lords test match. Sourav’s hundred at Lords was followed by another 134 in the 2^nd test at Edgabaston. Sourav proved his ability with the ball too by sneaking 6 wickets in the series. It was start of a new era. He formed a formidable opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar which has been the most successful opening pair in the history of One day Cricket with over 20 hundred run partnerships. Indeed dada has been a true champion, a great player, great captain who will always be remembered for his never say die attitude. Dada has achieved everything and I hope to see him going on a higher note. He will leave behind him the legacy that won’t be easy to fill. I wish him all the very best for his future endeavors. Dada Rocks!! :) … He might be retiring from International cricket but he will never retire from our hearts.