Farewell to Sourav Gangully

One of the many reasons to remember Sourav Ganguly is whatever he did — most of it he would cherish — kept adding to his legend. In keeping with that, those busy with record books before this match, looking for batsmen with centuries in their first and last Tests, ended up creating a cyber jam in search of players to have scored a hundred in their first innings and a zero in the last.

Like this extra spice that he was dismissed on the first ball, his career was full of incidents he would not have fond memories of. But despite working against him, these events enriched the aura of a man famous as much for his cover drives as for his date with controversies.

He was hammered left, right and centre in the Indian media when the selectors sent him to England in 1996. People present at Lord's on June 20 that year recollect how almost everyone was cursing Ganguly and wanting him to fail so that their predictions came true.

On Sunday, wherever they were, perhaps the prayer was for the opposite.

His contrasting reactions after the two innings in his last Test put this tale of contradictions in a nutshell.

In the first, he walked back a shattered man refusing to accept reality despite having 85 under his belt. While returning in the second with what might remain Indian cricket's most famous duck, he was calm, just a look towards the sky in terms of showing emotion.

Irrespective of how he hates it, the first-ball naught adds a special and unexpected dimension to his amazing tale, making it all the more extraordinary.

If his inclusion caused a ruckus, it got louder when he was dropped.

Ganguly was in the news by not playing a match, not scoring a run, but for falling out with the coach. It didn't change when he came back and intensified each passing day amid talk of young India, phasing out seniors and what not. Each move he made stoked the fire.

It must have been annoying at times but Ganguly had to live with the fact that whatever he does draws attention.

He may not have realised it, but everything, including the unsavoury, contributed to his image.

Confirmation of this came on Sunday, from the way what started in Lord's 12 years ago ended at the VCA Jamtha Stadium.
Sourav Ganguly has said farewell to cricket after 12 glorious years and at times controversial seasons in the highest level of the game. But for cricket, it's not merely the loss of an icon, rather of a born fighter, who led his country with passion and shrewdness and would go down as one of the best captains in the annals of cricketing history.

After staging glorious comebacks time and again to prove wrong the cricketing pundits who frequently penned the obituary of his journey, the talismanic left hander finally announced to the world himself that he has reached the end of his glittering international career.

While history will speculate and debate - till the principal protagonists make some revelation at some point of time in the future - on whether any voluntary retirement scheme was forced on Ganguly by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there can be no second opinion that the game would miss a colourful cricketer and a gutsy genius.

And he should have little regrets. Very few sporting heroes have enjoyed such public support in his home turf, as Ganguly did in India, particularly in his state West Bengal. This is borne by the scenes of public outrage that followed the Prince of Calcutta's exclusion from the national team in December, 2005, with fans blocked roads and railway tracks, and burning effigies of then chief selector Kiran More and coach Greg Chappell.

The tag of India's most successful skipper sits firmly on Ganguly's head, with statistics showing an enviable 21-13 win-loss record in Tests, besides having led the country to the World Cup final in 2003.

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In ODIs, he has led India in 147 games, and is in the exalted company of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar as one of the only three cricketers to complete the treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches.

But the greatness of Ganguly as a captain lay more in his approach to the game than mere statistical analysis. A killer instinct that endeared him to the nation not famed for the quality; a combative style, raw passion and an ability to pick and foster young talents and blend them into a well-knit unit are the attributes that distinguished him as a cut above others in the hot seat.

His 'eye-for-an-eye' approach and the ability to play the mental game to perfection was amply demonstrated when he kept Australian skipper Steve Waugh waiting for him for the toss during the epic 2001 home series, that India won 2-1 to end the Kangaroos' world record run of Test wins.

In Images: Great India-Australia Tests

The impact that Ganguly in the series as a strong no-nonsense leader, despite a pedestrian performance with the willow, rattled the Aussies, who rained invectives and lost no opportunity to belittle him. But their very behaviour was an ode to the Prince of Kolkata's greatness.

Ganguly led India, known for its vulnerability on fast and bouncy away turfs, to rare Test and One-Day series wins in Pakistan, besides finishing at par with Australia in the 2003 series Down Under.

The Natwest Trophy final win in 2002 against England after heroic performances by Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif brought out the spontaneous passion ingrained in the man, who celebrated by taking off his shirt and fluffing it in the air from the Lords balcony. Ganguly was criticized by the English, but he retorted saying he was only returning the same act performed by English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during a series in India.

As a batsman, Ganguly combined grace with an aggressive approach and could murder any bowling on his day.

The abiding image of Ganguly's batsmanship was his ability to step out by yards and disdainfully dispatch the most formidable of bowlers for straight sixes. Despite having to face much criticism for what many called his weakness against the short-pitched staff, Ganguly's mastery of the off-side was universally acknowledged. Rahul Dravid's famous comment calling Ganguly the "god of the off-side" is only too well known.

In all, Ganguly has scored so far 18,144 runs in both forms of the game, 6,888 of them came from 109 Tests at an innings average of 41.74, while another 11,363 came from 311 limited-over internationals where he averaged 41.02.

Along with the little master Tendulkar, he formed perhaps the best opening combination in limited over internationals.

The pair produced 6609 runs at an awesome average of nearly 50 per partnership in 136 innings.

Coming from the state of West Bengal, not known for its cricketing prowess, Ganguly made his Test debut in 1996 with a hundred at Lords, and reached his zenith during a tremendous run as Indian skipper from 2000-2005 before becoming an in-and-out member of the national team till the Australia series that begins two days from now.

As a bowler, Ganguly's slow medium place was more than useful in ODIs, and a 100-wicket haul bears ample testimony to that.

Last but not the least, Ganguly's ability to make amazing comebacks after being written off on several occasions showed his grit and perseverance. But the constant scrutiny at times proved too much even for a strong man like him.

"I am always under the scanner, man," he shot back at a young journalist before the Indian Premier League on being questioned about being repeatedly under trial during the later stages of his international career.

Sourav quit

“This will be my last series,” … “Before coming here, I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock” Sourav Ganguly, yesterday, announced his retirement from International Cricket after the upcoming Oz series. The decision might be surprise for a few but it was expected ever since his name was included in the test squad. Ganguly has mentioned in the press conference that he wants this series to end on a high note without any controversies. But there will be definitely lots of talks in media over his retirement. However, I don’t wish to talk about the same issue.

Sourav Ganguly, is unarguably the best left hander India has ever produced. He is India’s most successful captain, a leader with the killer instinct and innovation, batsman of highest ability, class and elegance. Many of us love him and many of us hate him. But to me Sourav Ganguly has been a real inspirational role model. Throughout his career Ganguly made it his habit to defy the odds.

When he was first selected in 1996, there were many who doubted his selection saying that he was included in the side not on his ability but due to the quota system. He made one of the most splendid debuts in the test cricket hitting consecutive centuries against England in England. Ganguly never looked back again and in the coming few years was crowned the title ‘Prince of Kolkata’ by legendary Sir Geoff Boycott for his unmatched timing on the cricket ball. Soon, he became one of the most destructive one day player.

After the failure of the home test series against South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar resigned from the captaincy. Sourav took over from him and lead India to win the ODI series. But soon after winning the one-day series, there were allegations of match fixing on few of the leading players in the team then. The ban and retirement of few players after the incident left the team in the doldrums. It was during this juncture the great leader emerged in the Cricketing arena by the name of Sourav Ganguly aka DADA.

Ganguly rebuilt the team with a great vision. He identified the youngsters who had the potential and backed them to the hilt. At the same time he understood the importance of the seniors and fought with selectors many time for their place. The faith in the ability of new guns and veterans did wonder for the captain and the team. His enthusiastic sporting action and his aggressive nature in the field made a new style in the world of Cricket. The team reached the finals of the 2003 world cup, won the Champions Trophy and the very famous Natwest victory, defeating Australia in 2001 test series and then drawing against them in 2003-04, beating Pakistan in Pakistan for the first time. These were few of the achievements of this great cricketer. He dared to look into the eyes of the opposition and fought fire with fire.

Saurav was possibly the first Indian captain who lacked any regional bias while selecting players to the Indian team. The players like Harbhajan, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Dhoni, Irfan Pathan who are holding the team currently have been backed by Sourav and he has left a rich legacy for the team. But they say that the life is not bed of roses and Ganguly was sacked from the captaincy and lost his place in the side after the spat with the infamous coach Greig Chappell. He defied all odds again and made a dream comeback to the national side in the late 2006 against South Africa. He amassed over 1100 runs, with 239 his career-best score against Pakistan in Bangalore in late 2007, at a fantastic average of 61.44 last year, which compares very favourably with his career average of 41.74 in 109 Tests. In the same period he scored at an average of over 45 in the ODIs. This comeback indeed made him a true legend. Ganguly finished his one-day career with 11,363 runs in 311 matches, one of only seven batsmen to reach the 10,000-run mark in limited-overs cricket.

Off late, Ganguly lost his place in ODIs and his place in test was also not sure. He has announced his retirement at the right time. I say right time because this is the time when you need to start the systematic phase out of the seniors so that young players can be drafted into the team. This has been trend which is followed by Australians and it is heartening to see that Dada has lead in this department as well. I must admit that I have never seen any Indian great retire with grace like an Australian by announcing in advance. The others were practically removed. Dada has been all grace while quitting captaincy and cricket.

The void that will be left by Dada’s absence can not be filled but then the show must go on. Let’s hope that Ganguly will script one of the best swan song. I wish the loving Dada all the best for the upcoming series.

Ganguly’s Cricketing Trivia:

Test:

* Captained India in a record 49 Test matches* Led India to a record 21 Test wins* His test average has never been less than 40

ODIs:

* Hold the record of most 200+ ODI partnerships (6 times) along with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.* Holds the record, shared with Sachin Tendulkar, for most 1st wicket ODI partnerships of 175+ runs (7 times).* Holds the record, shared with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the second highest score by an Indian cricketer in an ODI — 183, against Sri Lanka in 1999.* Held the record, shared with Sachin Tendulkar, for the highest first wicket partnership for India in an ODI match, 258, against Kenya in 2001. This record was bettered by Sri Lankan opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tharanga in 2006 at Headingley.* Was involved in the first 300 run ODI partnership with Rahul Dravid.* Sixth on the all time list with 31 Man of the Match awards.* He is also the only player to win 4 consecutive Man of the Match awards in ODIs.* India’s most successful ODI captain.* First Indian to score an ODI century against Australia in Australia.* Highest ODI runs scorer in the world (in a calendar year) in 1997,1999,2000.* Third in the list of hitting maximum number of sixes in ODIs.* Second in the list of highest number of centuries in a single calendar year ever. 7 centuries in 2000.
Ganguly has been 1 Indian Captain who has rewritten History of Indian Cricket Probably a few days back Dada announced that atleast 2 years cricket is still left in him .But after visiting the Bangalore camp and witnessing the attitute of other cricketers with him he probably felt why to linger abt to fight for coming into the team which has players that reaaly dnt want his presence in the team namely(Sehwag,Dhoni,Yuvraj)and probably the previous selection team as well( Dilip Vengsarkar never wanted him to be in the team nor did his predecessors Kiran More)
What does this signify ?What has Ganguly to prove to anyone?
He has simply got tired of all this in and then out and then again in to the team (He has proved his mental strength and composure infront of the whole world by his comeback in 2006.
He turned a bunch of talented but directionless individuals into a todays High profile Cricketers like
(Yuvraj,Zaheer,Harbhajan,Dhoni,Pathan,sehwag)
and look these crickters are paying back to him in his times when needs the team the most he has been Devastated by the Team.
He turned India into what is famously called as "Team India"
He showed how to give it back to Arrogant Aussies and Egoful England cricketers and rude Pakistanis .
Ganguly will be remembered as the Laying stone or Pillar Of Todays And futures Team India.........
I wish Sourav a lot of success in his coming life and and wish that he may be able to turn his last series into a proving point That he is still THE DADA OF INDIAN CRICKET..........
I wish a very happy family life with Sana his daughter and his wife Dona and his entire family .....
I wish that BCCI should give him a very famous FAREWELL IN RIGHT SPIRITS lest he will never ever come back to serve TEAM INDIA AGAIN AS A COACH OR A SELECTOR IN FUTURE..............
OK DADA BYE BYE . I AM PLEDGING TODAY THAT I WILL PROBABLY SOME DAY IN FUTURE MEET U AND MAKE A FILM ON U AND UR CAREER .......
BYE DADA WILL REMEMBER U THROUGH OUT MY LIFE....................