Since every Tom, Dick n Harry is writing farewells to Sourav Ganguly, i think i should write one too seeing that he has been my hero since i was in the 4th standard, he made cricket a passion and impossible possible. When i grew up watching cricket the Indian cricket team was a disaster they lost more than they won, the heroes were Azhar, Sachin, Kumble from whom if u wanted to extract any semblance of aggression i guess u would have to hit them. The Indian team played cricket like employees working in a government organisation. They go everyday to work disinterested only lookin forward to the end of the month to collect their pay. And things werent goin to change anytime soon. To understand the difference between Sourav n the other cricketers of those times u would have to know his background n upbringing. Sourav was born in a upper-class family in Kolkata where as he was growing up he had no dearth of money or anything money could buy. He was rightly termed 'Maharaja' coz he was treated as one in his home. Therefore, Sourav played cricket not for the wages it had to offer but as a sport, a passion.
When Sourav was picked for the Indian team in the 1991-92 Australian tour. He played a single ODI n was dropped with the team manager citing he had an attitude problem. But Sourav bounced back after 4 years(as we will see in the future bouncin back is second nature to Mr. Ganguly) in England amid wide criticism over his selection. The rest as they say is history, he struck two centuries in two consecutive tests n cemented his place in the Indian team. From 1996 to 2000 was an upward curve for him with runs comin from his bat the critics were silenced for sometime atleast. He matched Sachin stroke to stroke n was more consistent than Sachin in that period if u look at stats. Captaincy changed hands from Azhar to Sachin to Azhar to Sachin. But India still maintained its stature as Tigers at home, lambs abroad. And then Indian cricket was hit with the worst crisis ever, the match-fixing scandal. Everybody suddenly was under doubt, heroisms were forgotten n the public was bayin for the blood of the cricketers. Sachin quit captaincy, Azhar n Jadeja were banned from playing n Indian cricket was in disarray. At this time the captaincy was given to a man who was above this petty match-fixing ignominy. He made his own team, overlooked seniors sometimes n looked for new blood. Sourav stood by his bunch at all times gave them confidence, increased their self-belief n instilled the much needed aggression. Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Kaif, Sehwag were brought up from nowhere n made into superstars. The colonial mindset was trashed n the new India could take blows as well as give them out. The rise of Indian cricket is rightly attributed to Sourav who led them to overseas wins as well as to the final of the world cup.
When John Wright quit as coach of the Indian team, Sourav backed Greg Chappell for the post which might be the most blatant blunder that the great one ever made. Chappell was keen to be the centre of attention n wanted the rights of exercising the utmost powers in Indian cricket. This led to a public clash which left Sourav stripped from captaincy n out of the team. This was the darkest phase of his career, as i have come to know also that when u are not successful u have fewer friends, less self-belief n extreme frustration. He was in a pit from which no one backed him to come out. His career was supposedly finished n the great saga had ended. But Sourav as we know him had other ideas. He trained hard, worked primarily on his fitness n technique. He was finally given another shot on the tour to South Africa where he made one of the greatest comebacks that cricketing history has ever seen. He was back but not as the general but as a foot soldier. He enjoyed his batting to the fullest without the burdens of captaincy n notched up big scores. But that wasnt enough for the selectors n he was dropped from the ODI squad. This was a bit unfair seeing his tremendous record in ODIs n he was genuinely disappointed. People again started counting his days in the middle and after a disastrous tour to Srilanka where the whole batting order failed, he was again made the scapegoat n was left out from the rest of India squad. Dada had enough n finally announced his retirement from all forms of the game after the Australia series.
To briefly put it Sourav was one of India's greatest. He was a great batsman n the best leader India produced. One can never forget those sublime drives through the off-side or the shirt waving incident on the balcony of Lord's. But Sourav was more than that, he was a fighter who fought till his last day n never gave up. We can only look forward to his exploits in the IPL now where he will be turning out for the Kolkata Knightriders. Dada we will miss u!!! U were the greatest ever...
