Rock On...DADA

"Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamarey dil mein hai, dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qatil mein hai" This is what sums up DADA...a rebel. Yes a rebel he was who lived by the sword and perished by it too.
First of all let me make it clear that i was never an ardent Ganguly fan; and always belonged to the Dravid clan(media persons.... breaking news); but thats the greatness of the man, The pedigree to draw praise even from his critiques.
Defiance thy name is Sourav Ganguly. This 19 year old first came onto scene when he defied all notions and refused to carry drinks during his first ODI series(1991-92 Australia tour of India). He was not to be seen for the next 4 years until he defied all odds and struck a magnificient 130 against England at lord's on debut.(Rahul Dravid made 95 then playing the best man..as always) Although he was never seen as a test match great that moment redefined the definition of India and laid foundation of The Great Indian Middle Order.



His real test came when this young lad with pencil mustache was thrust into the captaincy role following the match fixing saga in 2000. Everybody thought that he wasn't ready and shudn't even be in the reckoning, but he defied the inevitable; again; to lead a young Indian side into the finals of the ICC Knockout cup 2000.
At that time he was the best ODI batsmen in the business and most times outscored his opening partner Sachin Tendulkar.
Under him India won some and lost some but what India learnt under him was to look into the eyes of the world and say" I wont lie down for the count; beat me if u can".
The most telling tale of his bravado was when Australia toured India in 2001, what was deemed as Final Frontier by the Australian media. But dada was up to it, he challenged the aussies at their own game. "Trash talkin", "Sledging" or "Mental Disintegration" as Steve Waugh called it. This is how he welcomed the No.1 test team with 15 consecutive test wins under their belt; "Australians may be the no.1 test team but they havent won here, last time they toured in 98' they lost, before that too in 96' they lost". And by his own admission this got onto Steve Waugh's nerves, then and there. To stomp onto a Lion's bare foot and stand your own ground is no mean feat. Dada did it and excelled at it too. That made him the captain India always wanted.
He was the one who always rooted for youngsters being infused into the team, and played mentor to the core of Indian team of now; Zaheer khan, yuvraj singh, harbhajan singh and virendra sehwag; who bloomed under his support. India always has had the class, the flair, the talent; he gave us the confidence to stand up and ba counted. Coz dats what he has done all his life.
His most astonishing feat is his knack of surprising even his ardent supporters. Arun Lal former India opener and cricket expert said recently"When he was dropped from the Indian team after the chappell saga, even i dint expect him to come back, but the way he played in South africa he surprised everyboby me included"
And sourav must have said to himself OOPS! I did it again.
There were many controversies in his career too, right from the start to the ego clash with greg chappell, an uncomfortable stint under once deputy Rahul dravid, differences with Sachin, and talk of his selfish batting; but thats not what we are going to talk about here.Visibly the pain has now risen too high for him. After being overlooked from the Irani trophy side he has decided to call it a day. He has not been in the reckoning for the one day side for quite some time now; for reasons best known to selectors. I also wanted him to retire but when he is now, it has left a bad taste in my mouth. This certainly isnt the way his end was meant to come.

The most successful test captain India has ever seen, The prince of calcutta, the God of the off side; watever we may call him has finally hung up his boots. He taught India how to be fighters and winners. He is a youth icon for sure; whom we must look upto. Dada deserves a ROYAL FAREWELL may he get one.

Lets pray he plays with the same death defying audacity in his last series and bows out on a high.
ROCK ONN ....DADA.
We will miss you.
And thats the bottomline cuz the great one said so.