Farewell Dada! We will miss you

Sourav “Dada” Ganguly has called curtains to a brilliant career that spanned for almost 21 years since he made his debut. He has been a phenomenal talent for India scoring close to 20,000 runs in his career. He was an extremely good batsman of both fast and spin bowling. He scored runs all over the world in an inimitable “Dada” style. His technique was solid and he was a very good player on the off side, many people called him “God of Off-Side”.

Sourav Ganguly was an instant success right from the time he made his debut in tests against England.He was efficient in playing the short balls and never hesitated to pull or hook if the bowlers asked for it.He was an enigmatic player on the field who was always optimistic and direct – he was never the one to fool around. He was always spot-on and made impactful decisions on and off the field.

Like his on-field persona, Dada was an amazing character off the field too. Sample this – after the England series, Dada ran away with his childhood sweetheart Dona Roy and gave a shock to his entire family and fans. It was a scene right out of a Hindi movie. He was such an heroic and independent character who was able to make his own decisions even from a young age.

As a captain, he was aggressive and took some brave decisions. He was a quick and smart thinker. India started doing well at home in the late 90′s with the fab four making some runs. But they lacked the fire power to win in overseas conditions and many people criticized the team, calling them Lions at home and mice overseas. But all that changed once Ganguly took charge of the Indian team. He led from the front and had some outstanding victories overseas. He was the one who taught India how to win overseas and laid the foundations which made the other countries take India seriously as contenders. He won quite a few tough series against teams like England, Pakistan and drew an all-important series at Australia against Australia to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Ganguly was not only a captain, but an inspirational leader and a mentor to the youngsters in his team. He was partly responsible for the emergence of Yuvraj, Sehwag and Harbhajan. He encouraged them and gave them a role to play in the team, making them fierce competitors like him.

When he was dropped from the team in 2005 owing to the tensions between himself and the then coach Greg Chappell, many people thought it was curtains to his career since he was old and India started winning without his help. However, he made a spectacular comeback a year later proving his worth in the runs he scored. He was remarkable after his comeback and showed a new level of maturity which enhanced his character traits all together.

Dada is a once in a lifetime player and it was an honour to have lived in his playing days and watch him play. He brought joy to so many Indians by attaining glory for the nation time and again and conquered our hearts in his very own, inimitable fashion.Though you have hung up your boots, you will be always remembered for all that you have done for Indian Cricket and its fans. Hats off Dada! We will miss you for sure.