Remember the last time Aussies played at Nagpur?
Dada had to pull out of the match due to a health problem, and everybody accused him for running away from his responsibilities. The media, BCCI and people criticized him so much! It was also taken as the point of DADA's fall!!
Recently, Adam Gilchrist also criticized DADA for it, he was the stand in Captain in that match and he said that when he asked Dravid about Sourav, he didn't get a satisfactory reply! So much had happened at Nagpur!!
Don't you think this was the perfect way to settle all scores with Aussies, media, and BCCI as a whole? DADA's final befitting reply! That's how I take it! And more so when India won the match (The last time they lost it like tame lambs.. without DADA)
A perfect platform. What say guys?
Its almost a year I have stopped watching ODIs. I cant see the Indian team without DADA. I didn't watch a single match in 2005-2006 when DADA was not there.
I have done a couple of things this time.
- I visited the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Day 3, 4 and 5 of the 1st test match(Luckily, DADA was fielding just infront of me near the square leg boundary.). Every time DADA would look towards us, we would chant "DADA DADA" and he'd wave at us at times.
- I took a photograph everytime he came our way (check out my album pics on Orkut)
- I kept as souvenirs the 6/4 board that I had, and also the tickets. In fact it was the last time I'd visited a stadium for watching a test match. Yes, with that I have stopped watching test matches any further. SACHIN may be the GOD of Cricket, but DADA is my Universe, my entire cricketing interest started in 1996 with DADA, and I can't think of cricket without HIM. I always looked up to him as a source of inspiration. He did a lot in shaping my career as well!! I am grateful to him for that for being my role model!!
-I took printout of all articles about DADA, published recently, kept all the paper cuttings
I'm biased, entirely biased, and Cricket means Sourav Ganguly for me. I don't care if Sachin keeps scoring runs, for me, I have also retired from watching 'international cricket'!! Since 1996 I had maintained a diary where I had noted all commendable performances of DADA. I still have that diary with me, and those days will remain in my memory forever!
I still cant forget staying awake at night and watching the Sahara cup, the 4 MOM awards, and the MOS award. I hated Harsha Bhogle initially for criticizing DADA, but later, was elated to find out that he had started eating his own words. DADA always made his criticizers eat their words, he believed in performing with the bat and not saying things outside the ground.
At one time DADA was scoring good runs against Srilanka. He scored 109, 99 (At Nagpur!), 173 in a series (where he was also the MOS). At that time people started calling him "SOU RUN" Ganguly!! he got out at 99 in a match, the same day Greg Blewett of Australia also got out on 99. I still have that special moment written in my diary!! I have followed every innings of DADA since he came in 1996. I started liking cricket because of DADA, I never watched before that, although I might have watched a few WC 96' matches, but the interest really grew around DADA.
Just felt like sharing these with you guys. I am very sad. I am sad that I wont watch DADA any more in the international scene, I cant think of missing his sixes! Those dancing-down-the-track and hitting-over-the-bowler's-head ones.
I still cant forget his 183 at Taunton. I will never ever forget his 239 at Bangalore, and I am happy that I was a part of the crowd when he scored that.
Dada! You will never retire from my heart! Never ever.
19 comments:
Nice and touchy!
It's true that Dada will never retire from our hearts!
I am amazed at the affection you have for Dada, even newspaper cuttings. I thought I was also a big fan, but you have surpassed me in some respects.
Nice One ...
I like being passionate and expressive ..
Though some filthy minds might relate this with Bong regionalism , but who cares ... Truth is Always stranger than fiction i guess .. kudos for such an article ..
Keep up Buddy !!!
Hey
I knew that you are big fan of DADA but i didnt know that it was because of DADA you had began to watch Cricket.
wooooooooow i am really amazed to see you as such a big big FAN of dada. He may be had retired from cicket but remember he had given you and us such a nice momemts in Indian Cricket.
I remember his action in LORDs.
Cherish those MOMENTS !!
Appreciate the affection you have for Saurav.. but the game is much much bigger than an individual. At times we get so obsessed with individuals that we comfortably ignore the failures of these lot. We had perhaps the best ever batting line up ever in world cricket for well over a decade. But the number of times that we had fallen apart in our batting is absolutely appalling. They were great individual players, but as a team they were terrible loosers. For a nation and a legion of fans obsessed with individual records, a 100 from Saurav or Sachin means a whole lot more than Team India winning.. Thankfully the new generation of Indian cricketers value team performance over individual performances. How many times have we seen a Sachin or a Saurav scoring runs at a pace that would be easly outpaced by the speed at which the traffic moves in many of our cities. They get to 80 in mo time, and all the good work that they did in getting to 80 gets outdone by the slow pace at which they score from 80 to 100, and in doing that the team looses its momentum, eventually getting lesser runs that what they would have got. How refreshing its to see the Sehwags and the Gambhirs of today play at the same place, and at times even faster in their 80s and 90s. And one thing that we forget comfortably is that both Sachin and Saurav who boasts of incredible ODI stats, opened the batting most of the time, in dead as doddo wickets in India, thereby getting most of the strike. It would be really interesting if someone pulls outs the stats of these greats batting in the middle order. Bet they would be as ordinary as any other. So this infactuation for a single player is fine, but you need to remember that cricket never stops with an individual, and this infactuation shouldnt blur your views of cricket and cricketers. If that objectivity is lost, people come to strange decisions.
@ Objective Perception
It may be refreshing to watch the sehwags and Gambhirs of Today, but its always "great" to watch Sourav.
and I completely disagree with your saying that Sachin and Sourav had scored runs at snail pace, they have scored numerous runs in numerous matches that we have own, and alos at a very high rate, that allegation is absolutely bullshit, and you should better check the cricket stats before even thinking of commenting like that!
and yes, Sachin and Sourav also scored runs across the Globe and not only in Indian dead wickets.. You should please start looking into records o what they have done for Indian Cricket before commenting or alleging them of playing slow or scoring runs in India only..
I think you have just started watching cricket... so you dont know what it means to watch Sachin and Sourav to score runs and win the matc for India.. never mind you will always grow up.. watching the game and understanding it more..
But as it is.. always have enough logic before you write something about invidividual performances.
As of now your perception is not at all based on facts, and stats, and is absolutely pathetic!!
I'm sorry about that, but that is the way it is!
@Objective Perception
I certainly agree with the statement - game is more important that any individual. But you will have to agree that its these certain individuals who inspire us to watch the games, who make the games more enjoyable, exciting and mostly memorable. If it was not for Sachin/Sourav Indian cricket wouldnt have got this mileage. You have to remember that Sourav took up the Indian team when the team was cornered with match fixing controversy. People had stopped following cricket. Taking responsibility at such situation and making it so competitive is certainly which commands a lot of admiration. Obviously Sourav had the able support from Sachin/Kumble/Dravid/Sehwag but someone was needed to lead from the front. N who could do it better than Sourav?
Regarding the personal records of Sachin/Sourav - I dont even want to comment as I am not at all fit to comment on their records. Statistics n history will speak of it.
Finally i wish all the very best to Sourav for whatever he wants to do in his second innings. And also thank him for producing a team like this which doesnt depend on any one individual to win matches. All the best DADA .. I will definitely miss u.
I will always remember Sourav for his daring and the self belief he brought to Indian dressing room. He was definitely a fine batsman, but his contribution to the way India played its cricket is so immense, that his batting fades in comparison. When, once upon a time, Indians were the mellow cows of test cricket, swallowing every injustice coming their way as if it was their duty to do so, Ganguly inspired a generation of cricketers who can elbow the aussies when provoked (read gambhir). I would like to believe that Dhoni is the refined product of Ganguly school of captaincy. I only wish he inspires more people to take up cricket in his home state. Its disappointing that for all its craze of cricket, ganguly is the only Indian cricketing great to emerge out of Bengal.
Though I am not as big a Dada fan as you are, but I can identify with your emotions! However, as they say, "everything that has a beginning, has an end too" - whether it's good or bad! I hope Dada's retirement would be taken on a positive note by today's young cricketers and they would get inspired more than ever! I hope emotions like the ones you cherish would sublime to the cricket community in India in general :)
India has a great potential, be it cricket, art or technology. We just need to a little more optimistic and aggressive - a trait so characteristic of Dada ...
I can empathise with you because i felt the same when Steve Waugh retired. However you missed a point here. Sourav will be back playing in IPL. So, you can be back from your resignation :)
I can empathise with you because i felt the same when Steve Waugh retired. However you missed a point here. Sourav will be back playing in IPL. So, you can be back from your resignation :)
I said
I have also retired from watching 'international cricket'!!
So, u see!!
I guess people got me wrong here. I was not trying to undermine the value of these cricketers - of which one is a true great. They have brilliant individual records. But as a team have we acheived the great heights that one should expect out of a class batting line up like what we had playing continuosly for well over a decade? The sad reality is a plain no. This is well established by the fact that we were never the top of the charts in either test or odi cricket during the time this golden generation of Indian cricket was in full glow. We can keep our eyes shut and say that its dark... but that doesnt alter the reality. When you have two batsmen averaging more than 55, and a whole bunch of other batsmen averaging well over 45.. whats the success rate that we have in test cricket? This famed batting line up failed to win a test series outside the sub continent and leave Zimbabwe [its a team not worth to be called as a test team] for almost two decades. After 1986 in England, the next test series win that we had outside the sub continent was in the West Indies in 2006. Thats 20 damn long years. Sachin played in the team from 1989 onwards.. Saurav and Rahul from 1996, Laxman from 1997-98. So for a good part of 10 years this fab four has played together winning nothing. Is that a record to be proud of? And remember, when India won the series in the West Indies, Saurav and Sachin were not in the team.So for these two, the only overseas series win outside the sub continent that they can show off is England 2007. Does that make a sound reading? Thats their record in test match cricket.
Now for ODI cricket.. From Jan 1 1999 to Jan 1 2008, India managed to win only one multi national series - the Natwest series in England. The success rate of India in ODIs in that time frame is 50.34% [check cricinfo for confirmation]. And when we are away from home, thats just 45%. For a team that had three out of the fab four playing consistantly, thats a pretty poor success rate to have. And this a team which has three of the best ODI batsmen ever - all three of them have more than 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. And when it comes to bilateral series outside the subcontinent, the only series win that we can boast of is a series win in West Indies in 2002. In that time frame India won 7/36 against Australia, 12/30 against South Africa, 11/29 agaianst New Zealand, 18/42 against Pakistan and 19/38 against Srilanka. These are staggering numbers. When I searched for these numbers in cricinfo, I knew that the numbers would come out bad.. but not as dismal as this. So against the top 5 nations in world cricket, our success rate is just 38% (67/175). Remember.. this is when the greats were in action... These numbers would be more than sufficient to prove that they were real under achievers in world cricket.
As I said earlier, individually they were great. But as a team they were an utter flop. The media created them as demi Gods. And as people of a country starving for any sporting success, we took them unquestionable entities. I am not a big fan of Australia - they are sore loosers. But one thing I like about the cricket loving public there is they demand quite a lot from their cricketers. As one the greatest thinkers ever in the game Ian Chappell once said - the Indian public is happy seeing one of its stars getting a hundred and the team loosing, but the Australian public is not ok seeing a Ponting 100 and its team loosing the game; they get satisfied by nothing other than success. Thats the sad part of it all. We have more or less become a country obsessed with statistics. We are happpy boasting around saying someone has n number of hundreds, or someone has n number of wickets; but least concerned about how many matches we won as a team. Till the last time I know, cricket was a team game...
And for the comment that I am relatively new to watching cricket... Well.. you are mistaken there. I have been keenly following the game for a short duration of 22 years. maybe thats too small a duration.. :-)
Let me say a few points about ODI cricket. India might not have won a lot of trophies, but you are forgetting a plain fact, India made it to the finals of lots of competitions, including the WC 2003'. They have been tagged chokers in finals, and I agree because of that they have not won many, but what we can think positively about this is that India had improved their number of win records considerably over the period Sourav. Sachin and Dravid played together! I don't think anyone can deny the fact that the tag "lambs" away from home tag was slowly improved under the able leadership of Ganguly. He had lead India to the finals of many tournaments, India might not have won many finals but that doesn’t undermine Ganguly and Tendulkar’s contribution to the game! If a person, who is known to be a great player, doesn’t perform in a final, but has performed well throughout the tournament, his contribution can’t be ever “nullified” with the words” they have done nothing playing together for 10 years” There are many positive ways of looking at things, but one needs to come out of pessimistic outlook or cynicism to accept those! The number of tournaments won abroad matters no doubt, but the number of wins also matter, and India has seen a steady increase of that number under Ganguly’s captaincy. Not even statisticians can ever deny that!
The success rate for India abroad had also increased when Dada became the captain. We should rather look at the increase or the overall improvement of India’s performance abroad rather than counting the number of tournaments won. No wonder, the change that was initiated by Ganguly can be seen in the current team as they face every team with guts and not as lambs. I don’t want to debate on the fact that Indians were denied a justified win in Australia, the whole world has seen that, and everyone knows that. So, there were instances when India could have won, but out of their sheer misfortune they didn’t.
If I compare the team that went to Australia, loosing 3-0 to them in 1999 -200 to the team that went there two times after that, I can’t see much change in the members, what I see is a sea change in outlook, and one man can easily take the credit of transforming the outlook of the team. These are things that needn’t be undermined by pessimists, and these things are there to stay forever, even if handful of criticizers find new ways to downplay facts!
Team’s outlook depends on individuals, and the guts and aggression that can be seen today can very well be considered as the fruits of the tree whose seed was sown by Ganguly. I see enough passion in Indians to see their team perform well everywhere, and I had seen enough reactions of people when they did badly. So much that Sachin had to say publicly, "Please trust us, we need your support"!!
Cricket is a religion here, and there are some gods obviously, otherwise it won’t remain a religion. Our culture is different from the Aussies and we are not here to emulate some alien culture, and that was why Greg Chappel couldn’t stick to the team, nobody in the dressing room liked him, Aussie culture can’t survive in India. I’m happy to find that it doesn’t survive, some things are every much like the way they are and they better be, and we needn’t compare them with outsiders.
Cricket for India is still a team game, and India have hardly relied on individual performances to win matches lately, its all about team efforts. The best can be said about the recent Mohali test vs Australia where everyone played a role, and it was full of drama all the 5 days!!
22 years doesn’t make one a great follower of the game unless one sees things from an optimistic point of view.
Well... you want to know what was the difference between the team that toured Australia in 1999-2000 and 2004-05 - one was obviously a better captain, and the second was that we had a more experienced team. Atleast four of the playing eleven had more than 80 test matches under their belt. And a more important thing - the bowling attack that decimated India in 1999-00 was not there. No Glen McGrath... no Shane Warne... no Brett Lee for the first half of the test series. Do you remember who were the bowlers in that Australian linup who replaced them - the test match that India won at Adelaide had a bowling line up of Gillespie, Brad Williams, Andy Bichel and Stuart MacGill. Wow.,.. thats one heck of a bowling line up.. isnt it?? I can foresee the argument thats coming my way - that we can play only against a team that is put up against us. And thats absolutely true as well. But there needs to be a balance when results are viewed. It was a remarkable effort from the Indians to have done well in that series and spoil what was a planned fairy tale farewell for Steve Waugh. But seriously, is that one of the greatest moments of our cricket? Is this the victory that we get satisfied with as a cricket fanatic country? If the answer for the above questions is yes, then we have set our standards very low. For a single sport nation like ours, and with such a massive population to choose from,if we cant come up with a team that cant be the world beater in that sport, then there are some serious problems in the way we look at things. Our basic psyche is to forget all the failures in the past with just a victory. And that victory is sufficient for our players to shore up their positions in the national side fpr quite a few matches following. That is the attitude that I feel should change. If demanding excellence in something is "un-Indian" and "pro-Australian" culture, I am more than happy to be inbibing that aspect of the Australian culture.
With regards to your argument that we reached the finals of the world cup in 2003, and that being a huge acheievement; well the response is that noone remembers the almost guy. Everyone remembers the winner. Noone remembers the Akram's Pakistan team of 1999 or Taylor's Australian team of 1996. But everyone remembers the Imran's pakistani team of 1992 and Waugh's Australian team of 1999; even though the Pakistani team of 1999 was far more clinical than Imran's team of 1992 and Taylor's 1996 team playing perfect cricket compared to the scrappy cricket played by Waugh's team in 1999. If we as a nation are satisfied by being the "almost" ones, we are not going anywhere. They are professional cricketers, who market themselves based on the legion of fans that adore them; and hence the fans can demand success from them. We spend days following them, and if we were not there, they would not have been there as well.
Moments of success in sports are defined with champion performances by sportsmen in critical moments. That is why the Desert Storm innings from Sachin in April 1998 and the Sydney Storm innings from him in March 2008 are remembered. What is the point if runs are made and wickets taken in incosequential matches? Statistically they may boost the records; but in the cause of the team winning competitions, does it contribute?
Saurav was an excellent captain - no doubt. But there are certain things that would make an interesting read. He has 21 test wins out of 49. Brilliant number. But one thing that people are forgetting is that 6 of those wins were agianst Zimbabwe and 3 against Bangladesh. There were 11 test matches against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Take those 9 out, the numbers doesnt look that great - is'nt it? 12 wins out of 38 is not that great a number - isnt it?? How would you call someone a great captain if he cant win one third of the test matches he captained in?
I am as big a fan of the Indian cricket team as what you are. I too used to bunk classes and work to be in the stadiums or in front of the TV following the matches. I too churn out a silent prayer when our team plays. But I am not ready to give up the want for being excellent. I am not ready to be swayed by an odd victory here and there. I am sick of the jingoism that I get to see in the media regarding this so called fab four. Lets accept it - they were good individual players, but as a team they failed. I find it hurtful to say that, becuase I have spent enough time in my life following these cricketers.
One final thing - there is a difference between optimism and objectivity. An optimistic cricket viewer would keep on waiting for that one win, and forget all the losses before once he gets it. That victory gets celebrated, while ignoring the falls before. I am just trying to be objective in the way our team has performed over the past decade or so. With that much of talent around, this team should have made much more. There is a startling comparison that we can draw between the Indian cricket team and the Portugese football team. Both of them had a bunch of exceptionally talented players playing together simultaneously, but both teams were under achievers in their respective sports. Both of them promised a lot to the world; but delivered oh so little...
@objective perception: I feel you are getting carried away by your 'demand for excellence' and being overly critical. Its perfectly alright, as a fan, to expect your team to be a world beater. But as someone who has followed the game over a long time and understand the intricacies involved with it, you should be more pragmatic in your views. People, and more so, teams, dont become excellent overnight. Its a long phase of improvement which, however unromantic it may be, is equally important. A good leader can bring you from 2nd position to 1st position, but it takes a great leader to bring a team from the abyss to the level of your 'almost' ones. Thats because in the latter case, the entire mindset will have to be changed and not just the level of performance. Ganguly did that for India. When you say 12 wins out of 38 is not a great statistic, you will do well to remember that most of them were landmark wins that came after a long time. The victory in adelaide which you downplayed, came after 22 years. Dont tell me you didnt get goosebumps when you saw Rahul hitting the winning runs on that day. It was not so much the opposition as the historical baggage which this team has played against. And it takes a lot of courage to do that. I agree that India may not have 'streamrolled' all the opposition teams under sourav, but if you have seen anything of history, you will realise that it was because India didnt have the pace attack that could consistently take 20 wickets, and not because of the batsmen. By blaming the fab four for the failures, you are just insulting their talents. As a passionate cricket fan, its important to remember that any criticism should be accompanied by sufficient respect for the players. As you said, India should have made more with so much talent around. Therein lies the significance of Sourav's contribution. India had always produced talents. But it was Sourav that gave the team the necessary killer instinct, that extra edge required to win as a team.
Ok! So here you go now. You whine when India doesn’t win matches abroad saying that they are not up to the mark, the players are not performing, no credit to anyone, and when you see instances where Indian team has won the match you will try to find out what the bowling line up was, so that you can prove that winning was not a great job, they won because they faced a poor lineup. So, basically you are being a hypocrite who criticizes Indian Cricket for everything without giving them the appreciation they deserve for a good job done! That is how a “great Indian cricket fan” supports his/her team! Absolutely awesome!! Hail to thee! In the process of criticizing the team you forget there have been numerous instances where Shane Warne and Glen Mcgrath were at the mercy of Sachin Tendulkar!! No, you should never remember such instances, you are born to look at Indian cricket from a critique’s viewpoint and no matter whatever good performances come up, and you will try and find loopholes in them! As if you have always been perfect at everything you have done in life! You have never taken advantage of any niche that came your way! Gillespie was also a good bowler, if you see is past records! He may not be of the caliber of Glen but he was indeed a figure!
And what fantastic or great performances did Bret Lee achieve when India toured Australia earlier this year? Bret Lee seemed helpless and directionless both there and in India. Now they are the world champion, why shouldn’t they perform equally at all places? They should? right? Why didn’t they perform on Indian soil? The wickets are tailor made – spin tracks here? So, why are the world champions failing on spinning tracks!!? If Bret Lee is a world class player, he should take wickets every time he plays, everywhere no matter how the wicket is. Seems he too has his limitations, and so does the others.
For me and for many for those millions of fans of Indian cricket “any” victory on Australian soil irrespective of their bowling attack is something to cherish for a long time. Its great to see India winning abroad, something they failed to do previously. It’s great to see Indian team’s lamb abroad image changing under the leadership of Ganguly, and that’s how I and many other positively look at Indian cricket, and hardly anyone can deny that change!
We have not set our standards low! We have just started evolving the way we play cricket! We didn’t win abroad earlier, and when we start to win, we shouldn’t knit pick faults and highlight them to undermine the performances coming up, that is what I say is “un-Indian”. It’s always very easy to criticize from armchair; everybody has a right to do that! If picking a team of greats among the teeming millions was that easy, India should have excelled always at Olympics, leave apart Cricket and Football! You don’t pick up stars for your team; you pick up potential stars, and mould them so that they have the confidence to perform for the country. Ganguly did that for India; he constantly supported a bunch of players, and the Sehwags and Dhonis you are talking about all came up during his era, and due to his support! There’s no possible way to downplay his contribution in making a team that has challenged Australia like no other team in the world in the last 6 years! Not every Indian team went to the WC final every time it was held! Oh!! You shouldn’t consider the WC 2003, as India didn’t win it, right? What matters is end results and not that comes before that! So, however good the Indian team might have played in WC, it doesn’t matter as long as they didn’t win the final! I can understand the frame of mind behind that thought! Just to remind you. WC 2003 was played in the foreign soil.
And somebody forgot Sahara cup as well, somebody forgot that India had performed excellently there and one man had excelled and brought laurels to the country. “In foreign Soil”! Toronto, geographically, I think is not a part of India!
12 wins out of 38 is not a good number, definitely, but it is better than 0 out of 10, or 0 out of 23, etc i.e the abroad performances of the Indian team in the pre-Sourav era. So, the improvement in numbers is what I like. Performances can’t act like binary. It can’t be that you switch on “Sourav” and it switches on India’s wins abroad every time from that point! It’s a transition, Indian performances had improved, and that’s how I look at things; that is how as an Indian cricket fan I would be happy! Rather than downplaying whatever they have done by pointing out certain weak points! That’s called “optimistic” outlook.
I don’t disagree to your “want” of winning performances. But the fav four you are talking about are not bowlers, and its not that batting faltered much that didn’t let them win, batting and bowling are equally important. And if we had a fav four in bowling as well, like the way Australia had, we would have won more matches. But what I am happy about is. even though there wasn’t a decisive bowling attack, we still managed to win matches abroad, and that’s what makes me and other Indian fans happy that “at least we are winning few matches abroad now – this also makes us look forward to winning series as well” something that we did sometimes and something that didn’t happen when the previous Indian teams toured abroad! And why do we always look at India winning in their home ground, why not the other way that Australia wins at their home ground too and falters when they land up in India! Why not that way?
And talking about the past decade? Well I am happy that our performances have improved, that we have started winning matches abroad and that the team is not like before. More gutsy and more throw-a-challenge-at-the-opposition’s-face types. That’s what I take positively!
It seems that I am going to write at a critical juncture when an acrimonious debate has just started off with a whole lot of recriminations over a topic which otherwise seemed to be so obvious and undisputable. It makes me that much more responsible for contributing each iota of my thoughts here , because a highly sensitive topic that this is , I cannot or rather should not hurt anybody's sentiments here . I won't achieve anything out of that. But at the same time , I can't be diplomatic too just because I need to be fair to both the enraging parties . I will silently add my comments , but a very sincere request , don't please misunderstand me . I am not at all intending to hurt sentiments of anybody of you because all of you seem to be ardent fans of the great game that Cricket is, even though you may not be a fanatic follower of a magnetic personality like Ganguly or Sachin .
First of all , I must not deviate from my basic objective of contributing here . Kudos to Partha . You have excellently penned down your emotions and translated all of the Indians' fanaticism and passions about Ganguly , the demi-god of Modern Indian Cricket . Will come to that topic at a later point . First of all , I have to accept that I am not a stereotype or blind Ganguly fan even though I come from that same city as he . For me , one Ganguly or a Sachin or a Lara or a Laxman brings the same zeal about Cricket . I did not start watching cricket because of Ganguly , neither will I stop watching it once he has called it a day . I am also a subscriber of that myth that this game of Cricket is much larger , much greater than a mere moron . Very rightly said , Obj Perceptn ( Pls don't mind , I don't know your actual name ) . Seems like you have followed this game in the same non-biased way as I have done. Also your worship or appreciation of Pro-Australian attitude that country's win should be the first perspective in anybody's mind than basking in individuals' glory - really calls for a great applause . Here I want to add one or two points which I personally believe.
One or two anecdotes , guys. Just an incident 11-12 summers back. It was Toronto , Sahara Cup , '96 . Ganguly's position in Indian side was at stake after Sandip Patil repeatedly had overlooked him in ODI matches. That was a time when Dravid started cementing his position at No. 3 and Ganguly had to compete with seasoned customers like Vinod Kambli . Just the following year , Ganguly put up that enormous effort to win 4 back-to-back Man of the Match awards and handed India a well-deserved 4-1 victory over their arch-rivals which was unprecedented for a country who used to be thrashed by Pak in every corner of the world and who didn't know the tricks how to get out of that jinx ( a defeat against Pakistan ) . And here was born a new resurgent India who won by a massive margin and the floodgates opened. That paved the way for many more Indian triumphs over their arch-rivals in the years that followed. A formidable ODI batsman appeared in the cricketing horizon who eventually went on to reach the fastest 7k, 8k, 9k ODI runs , a record which puts Ganguly even ahead of the greatest Tendulkar . One more incident, folks. India just arrived in the continent down under at a summer of 03-04 when the Aussies were being ready to give a worthy farewell to their nation's greatest soldier , a person who was known as the " Crisis Man " , a person whose name used to be at the top of many wives' lists when asked on whose innings they could afford to bet their husbands' lives . Yes, Steve Waugh also did not expect that his farewell series would be so much marred and maculated that he again himself had to deal with the crisis act ( a gritty 80 ) even in his final test just to save the series. How could he expect ? He had witnessed earlier visiting Indian teams who could be easily broken under pressure like a pack of cards , specially the one that had visited in just the last series (99-00) and had been thrashed or white-washed by a mammoth 3-0 margin. But this Indian team looked totally different from the outset. Here was a captain who had enormous self-belief and confidence over his fellow mates and like the great Napoleon Bonaparte , a word called "Impossible" did not exist in his dictionary . In the match in Brisbane "Woolloon-Gabba" , when he came to bat , I still vividly remember that he looked completely determined and yet so much at home even though he had to thwart a hat-trick and what he did is now a history . His majestic , aggressive 144 not only set the tone for other Indian batsmen in the series who scored so immensely , but also brought India almost within few inches of wreaking a historic series victory . Had a lot of umpires' debacles or wrong decisions not gone against India or had little Parthiv not missed those easy sitters of Waugh and Katich who went on to score a century , India could have achieved a series victory down under , an achievement which is considered to be the final frontier for any visiting nation. Alas ! that did not happen . Then Mr Obj Perceptn could not add that statistics to vindicate his stand. But what transpired was much more important than just a series victory . Team India , booming and oozing out in full of confidence , knew that they could now beat anybody and everybody in the world . That immediately was apparent in their historic series victories in Pakistan , England , West Indies etc.
Sometimes, some dry statistics cannot depict the actual picture . In a country like ours, when the game of cricket is considered to be a religion or its crickets are worshipped like the Gods , statistical data cannot serve much more than some nuisance numbers. The perspective should be subjective rather than boringly objective . Mr. Perception has obviously come up with some deliberate details which can obviously raise a few eye-brows , even they are more than true , but that’s not all . A Sachin , a Ganguly , a Kumble is a player of a generation , they come once in a decade or perhaps in a quarter of a century . If we ignore their contribution to Mother India by just giving examples , say how many world cups are under their belt or how many overseas series wins they could achieve , it is very unfortunate from our part because then we , trying to be too intelligent or sounding to be too pragmatic or logical , tend to miss the bottom line . India is a country where until recently , sports has been always taken as a hobby or passion , but not as a serious profession . Indians have been historically the worst performers in the Mecca of sports , i.e. Olympics . In Soccer , they can never even think of coming with top 100 nations in the world . In Hockey which is the national game for us and where India was so good at a point winning eight Olympic gold medals , they could not even qualify to take part in the last Beijing Olympics . Lack of infrasctrure , lack of professionalism , lack of that killer instinct may attribute to such a dismal performance in the other sports . And then there is Cricket where India at least could find themselves in the top league of nations . There is no harm in wanting to see our country victorious every time they step on the cricket grounds , either in India or overseas , but then one has to remember the broader picture too . Just because Aussies are the undisputed No. 1 for so many years , we cannot bring their attitude in our veins overnight and start winning like them . That was Guru Greg’s failure . When we talk about our cricket , we need to understand the back-ground and more importantly empathise with the sentiments of billions of our fans rather than talking very intellectually just for the sake of sounding different from others and hence snobbish . I totally agree with Leepaksha’s comment that it is much harder to bring a person or country from the moniker of back-benchers to an elite league consisting of top performers than from thrusting them from second to first . And there in lies the enormous importance of Ganguly , the great legacy that he left for Indian cricket . He made us believe that “ Yes , We can “ and infused a ton of enthusiasm , aggression and that almighty killer-instinct within the bunch of young and old cricketers . Now Dhoni has to carry that legacy and he shoulders that responsibility to make our country truly No. 1 in all forms of cricket ( already India is No. 1 in the shortest version ) .
Mr Perception , your perception is really objective , no doubt about that . But can you deny , too , what a Dada or a Sachin or a Dravid means to our country ? I think , you cannot , because you only told that you also used to bunk classes when these people would bat . I still recall the days when I used to pray like anything for a Sachin century or would have been equally amused to see a great Sachin-dada partnership or one between Dravid and Laxman . But India’s victory was also of no less priority to me . The game of cricket may be greater than these individuals , but one cannot deny the fact that these players have enormous contributions to keep the greatness of the game , otherwise in a country like ours , if there is no superstar , who will go to watch a cricket match to Eden gardens or Chinnaswami ? Even though cricket is a game of bat and ball , but here actors , their histrionics are given more importance than the mere stage . How can you forget , our mothers and aunties worshipping in the temples having each player’s photo with them and chanting mantras for bringing good fortune to these players during the world cup ? How can you deny that in a country like ours where so many people find it tough to earn their livelihood or to reach both ends , at the end of the day, when they go to bed , they at least feel happy to see a Sachin’s century or to see a Kumble’s 10 wicket haul ? If they can forget about their own owes or misfortune just being blissful at an Indian victory or a Sachin’s ton , then , boss , we are no way lowering our targets . There lies the importance of being a Sachin or a Dada . People try to empathise their success and failure with their owns and behave in a frenzied and fanatical way which is beyond imagination of a sopho .
Finally Partha , hats off to you . You showed enormous support for Ganguly in both his good and bad times . You always have been loyal to him and that is the quintessence of a true Ganguly fan . I really admire your biasedness . There is no harm in it until that conflicts with others interests which , I am sure , has not happened anytime . What does your writing signify to me ? It means much more than just a blog written by a friend , it is a befitting tribute towards one of the greatest sons of Mother India , a son who has self-lessly devoted everything that he could for the cause of the country and now when his shadow becomes taller , his legacy will be remembered for ever .
Hey Partho, I have tagged you to play a game called tag... here is teh link
http://arnabchakraverty.blogspot.com/search/label/Game%20-%20Tagging
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