Saurav Ganguly: Farewell, Dada—This Blogger Loves You

Goodbye, Saurav Ganguly…

My first memories of Saurav Ganguly are from a long way back. It was not his debut, as I was 8 at the time and hadn’t started following cricket. I do not even remember where the memories were from. The memories were of him stepping down the track and murdering a left arm orthodox spinner in a way which shouted: I RULE!

And rule he did. For his entire career, he acted, batted and bowled as if he owned the place. The attitude was there to see. What was amazing was that the attitude never transformed into over-confidence. Yes he was arrogant, but what he gave to Indian cricket is more the double the compensation for the arrogance. Even his arrogant behavior was well liked throughout the world.

He is not to grace the cricket pitch as a player anymore. The boy who persistently called newspaper offices for four years to see if he is in the team has finally left the world of cricket...Loyal Kolkata Knight Rider fans might see him again, but test cricket would surely miss him. He epitomized the meaning of testing his opponents, even off the field. He galvanized the unsure Indian teams to play well and win abroad. The slogan he coined for the world cup 2003 ("NOW OR NEVER"), enthused the team so much that they reached the final.

The backing he gave to talented players made them realize that they belonged. Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh owe their careers to him. Even Sehwag to an extent. He knew what being talented and left out of the team felt like. Whenever he was shunned to the domestic gallows, he scored so heavily that the selectors had to shit themselves. The confidence with which he spoke all the time gives complexes to even the best public speakers.

He was the most successful captain India ever had. He gave Sachin Tendulkar the best possible opening partner. He drew a test series in Australia. He scored a century on debut and a golden duck in his last outing.

Always a man for showmanship, he never let the media get to him. He dictated terms to the media, or for that matter anyone he dealt with. People said he could not play short pitched bowling. He played 110-plus tests for India. CAN ANY TOM, DICK, and HARRY do that?

We love you dada, you have been a great player, and an awesome human being. MY ROLE MODEL, for sure. I will miss you. As Allan Llewellynfrom Cricinfo puts it:

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I will miss Ganguly for his entertainment and his spice. With each year more characters leave the game and as public life becomes increasingly sanitised, I wonder if they can be replaced by the next generation of media-managed clones.

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