A PRINCEly farewell!!

Saurav Ganguly-this name could evoke a wide range of emotions. No one can probably script a better climax to his career than Ganguly has. Invariably, most players go out at a time when they are done and out or when they are not at the peak of their game. Call it what you want, VRS scheme or whatever, Ganguly could not have a chosen a more appropriate stage and place to hang up his boots. He is going out on a high, when people think that he needs to be there for a little longer. The VRS thing, a brain child of the rumour mongers, has shown the BCCI in very poor light, thanks to Ganguly.!!

His raise has been the typical rags-riches story, worthy of being made into a Bollywood potboiler. When he was picked for the England tour in 1996, his selection was attributed more to the “quota” thing for the east zone. With the technical shortcomings in his game, most pundits did not give him a slight chance even to play for India on a consistent basis, let alone captain it.
“On the off side there is God and then Ganguly”, coming from Sachin says it all. He is among the finest players of spin the game has seen, never afraid of using his feet against them. His opening partnerships with Sachin is something no cricket fan can afford forget. One of my favourite Ganguly knocks would certainly have to be his 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton. It was a very special knock, the size of the ground notwithstanding. His century at Brisbane in the 2003 series is another of my favourites. It was a very critical knock not merely in the context of the match, but more importantly, it set the tone for the series. The rivalry he had with Steve Waugh, another doughty customer like himself will always find place in the history books of the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
He is a person of immense character, his come back into the side is proof enough of his mental make up. He has been more suave in his conduct and has often stymied his aggressive instinct to play responsible knocks in his second innings. His last test against Australia at Nagpur, was also very interesting-a very strokeful half century in the first innings and a golden duck in the second-so typical of the maverick he is. That Australia had just Jason Krejza as their lead spinner did not help them too much, as Ganguly effortlessly dismissed him with disdain. He is too good to be troubled by a rookie offspinner. Ironically, it was Krejza who consumed him in his final innings!! Also, that Ganguly led for the final winning moments of the match made it extremely special-a fitting farewell indeed.
He was arrogant and outspoken-the very un-Indian qualities which made him the most successful captain for India. His aggressive captaincy was hard to resist and realize not just on the field, but also off it. The shirt waving incident at Lord's, his counter attack on Steve Waugh are classic examples of Ganguly's aggressive nature. As a captain, his ability to spot talent was extraordinary. Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Pathan-all came off age under him. He had absolute belief in his boys and thats probably a reason why many youngsters did exceedingly well when he was at the helm. His single most important contribution to Indian cricket has to be the aggression he brought into the team.Ganguly is loved by so many for the same reason he is disliked by others. It is a cliche to say “Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him” but I think it suits Ganguly better than anybody else.