Prince Charles has been waiting for 60 years now to be crowned the king. Another Prince, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, a man who has been as controversial in his public life, as virtually untraceable in his private life, has been waiting for ever. Sourav came so close to being crowned in World Cup 2003 – he was let down by his team mates in that day & night affair – of course, he would argue that he was also responsible for that defeat. The man who after being dropped from the National Team for “attitude” problems, came back to score back-to-back tons on debut & the following test matches at cricket’s grandest settings ever possible and went on to become the most successful captains of the country. In fact, the “freshness” of the Indian team is much attributed to Sourav Ganguly’s sharp eye for talent and constant backing of fresh talent at the highest level of cricket.
Most remember him for his shirt-stripping act at the balcony of The Lord’s; Some remember him for keeping Steve Waugh waiting at the toss; Purists recognise him for his talents in off-side play (Rahul Dravid, one of the game’s highest order technicians himself, made the by now famous statement: “In offside play, there is God & then there is Ganguly”) and the masses recognise him for his aggressive nature.
But I think there was something special that made Ganguly shine amongst his much brighter peers: Sourav lacked what his team mates had: Sachin’s sheer talent, Rahul’s resolution, VVS’s artistry, Anil’s precision, Viru’s audacity and Bhajji’s pugnacity. What he had in abundance was emotion – yeah, we have not seen a lot on the field, no crying, not many swear words with the Lord’s incident being only an aberration. I strongly believe his emotional nature got him to where he stands today – his disbelief at being left out of the squad in 1992, his upping his ante at the world’s biggest cricketing stage in 1996, his mauling of the Lankan Lions at Taunton in 1999 World Cup, his backing himself while taking on captaincy of a side that at best could be described fragile, his confidence in youngsters with talent, the doggedness in his Brisbane century in 2003-04, his sacking of Chappell when the courtier played against the prince and finally, the rock-solid self-confidence that brought him back to the lime-light out of nowhere to score 2000 runs in 2 years when people claimed he was finished.
I will always remember Sourav for two things: The hundred in Brisbane – the Australians tested him with the short variety and he responded by ducking and finally pulling one to the boundary when he was getting only short ones, neat cover drives through the off side and finally, the lofting Warne over long on. At a point when a slide seemed inevitable, Sourav stood up to be counted amongst the brightest stars of a cricket crazy nation. If not for his ton, we would have lost another series in Australia – when the series was drawn, Sourav’s contribution was just mentioned and as usual, VVS, Rahul & Sachin were at the forefront. And as usual, Dada stood at the corner, content with the praise his boys were gathering.
Second, I remember the Pepsi advertisements in 2005 end: A different Sourav, this one personified of humility smiled at people from the screens and said “Main Sourav Ganguly – Bhoole tho nahi?” & “Apni dada ki baat sunenge naa?” This was important because that is when he learnt the wonder humility could do. And I think this period rounded him off to be a better person in life.
He has entertained us so much & yet, there can hardly be any contribution from our side to him. All I can probably do is say “All the best dada…”
