Bidding Farewell to Dada

Skimming through the news sites on the net yesterday evening,I could not believe my eyes,as it kept gazing over the caption 'Ganguly announces retirement'.Though the script was prepared partly by the media and partly by naysayers of Ganguly,I found the words "Just one last thing lads, before I leave, I just want to say that this is going to be my last series" (as voiced by him) struggling to go down my throat.Yes,the 'Prince of Calcutta', as Geoff Boycs would call him, has decided to descend from his throne after a pretty successful reign.Though this is not the door for exit, that he would have dreamt about, it could not have come at a better time than this. Remember,with the axe hanging over his head for more than a year, he has had a very successful year with an average of over 45, silencing his critics and once again proving the Darwin's theory - Survival of the fittest.Imagine,how strange it would have been,if he was out with an injury and never returned to the dressing room again,without even getting a farewell series to thank his enthusiasts. Would that be the perfect climax that a tiger from Bengal,who commanded respect all his life, deserve?Thanks to his pro- activeness,which eluded all these speculations and walk out of the cricket arena with a great dignity.

The fab four are the ones who defined the dimensions of cricket for me,to be frank and the one special factor that makes Ganguly stand out from the other three, is that he is a left-hander.Though I have heard about the legacies of Clive Lloyd or Allan Border,I have not enjoyed their game as much as I have enjoyed watching Sourav Ganguly and Brian Lara in full flow.And going by that,I hold Sourav only next to Lara and even better than Lara in certain aspects.The southpaw,who hit an imperious century,the first time he showed his willow to the bowlers at the international level and also taking 3 wickets, would be an ideal start to the career,that every debutant would dream of.Gradually improving on the one day front too,he started opening the innings with Sachin, in less than a year of his debut.Salvaging the team with a century,to win the Independence cup in '98, scoring his highest of 183 runs against Srilanka in '99 world cup, with a rain of sixes are a few escapades, that came to my mind instantaneously,when I threw some light on his cricketing career.And not to forget,he almost took the ownership of the ground in Toronto,scoring at an average little above 55 and taking 15 wickets(in fact,this is what shaped him as a reliable bowler).The God of off-side, I must confess had the best control of atleast half of the ground in front of him, any day he was asked to bat on.Even if 10 fielders are placed on the off side(including the square leg umpire,if he is allowed to),he can still bisect the fielders to fetch his victory,as accurate as a compass.

But the quality I admired him the most for, is his stint as a captain.A dictator of his own terms,he could convert all of his thoughts into action.He baptised many youngsters into the team and injected fresh blood,which keeps the adrenaline pumping all the time and being as aggressive as possible, into the otherwise placid Indian team.He not only preached his doctrines, but also made sure people practiced them and stood as an example himself,to lead others from the front.How can one forget the vivacious moments of the shirt at the Lord's balcony,which was achieved only because of two of the finest young talents,who were the products of his experiments with the team selection.Getting to feel a world cup,though not able to grab it,the only one to do so after Kapil Dev and almost sensing a series victory in Australia in tests(which I rank higher than a world cup) are few pages out of Dada's book,which Dhoni should memorise and keep saying to him daily.
As all good things should come to an end, like what American Capitalism showed us few days back, the day has come, to bid farewell to the most successful captain of Indian cricket, though his legacies would linger in our thoughts for some time to come.What would a person,who has learnt just to live with cricket,for more than a third of his life, can do, after renouncing only what he knows best to do, is what I am wondering about.May be sharing the commentary box with Gavaskar and Shastri or doing a cricket chat show in television or can be something even more fancier than what we think.But whatever it may be,the ardent fans of the Dada can find some solace,when he wears his black jersey again, where he rules his own world, for another couple of years guaranteed.Keeping those speculations aside, I request you all, both the fans and critics of him, to give him atleast a standing ovation,when the Tiger comes out to roar for one last time, as a mark of gratitude, for all that he has done to our nation.

By the time I finished writing this, looking out through the window, I saw that the sun was about to set in the horizon.The same, I thought is happening in Indian Cricket too.....