The adorable rebel

Another day, another tribute. It was just a week ago that I bid adieu to India's greatest match-winner. And in the early hours of Monday morning, India's winningest test captain bid farewell to the game that is my passion. Personally, the latter was undoubtedly the bigger of the two farewells.

India regained the Border Gavaskar trophy, currently the most coveted prize in cricket (ahead of the Ashes),led astutely by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the man who will be king one day. It was one of the most important wins for Indian cricket. The coronation was well deserved for the deligent troops who had walked the talk for the better part of a month. In the background though, one man depicted a silent smile, albeit one that spoke a lot. As soon as the 9th wicket fell, MSD called his "Dada" for a chat and asked him to marshall the troops one last time. It was after all, a team he helped build. This gesture by MSD was unprecedented and there was a lump in the throat at witnessing the true passing of the baton.

It all started way back in 1991-92. Sourav, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, 'earned' a trip to Australia on what many thought as East Zone's best player(Indian selection system at that time was not bereft of nepotism). He was a lost soul, in a team dominated by the presence of seniors like Kapil, Shastri,Vengsarkar and Srikkanth..These were people he watched and adored from his multi-storeyed mansion in Behala. He allegedly refused to carry drinks and behaved like a snooty prince. But knowing who said it,I refuse to take it at face value. There might have been an element of truth in the story, but surely not what it was made out to be.

Having played a solitary one-day game on that tour, Ganguly came back into the grind of domestic cricket and performed admirably. Many thought he would be consigned to the trash, but he continued to break into Duleep and Irani trophy sides and his name continued to be around the fringes of national selection for the next 4 years.

His day of reckoning came in 1996, when he was picked for the England tour. There was hullabaloo all over India, that he was a quota selection. When the entire system is flawed, why blame only the benefitiary?There would be no tomorrows if he failed and as he left Indian shores,he bloody well knew it.

In June 1996, in the 2nd test at Lord's (after another meek Indian capitulation abroad, in the 1st test at Edgbaston), he made a hundred on debut. Another debutant, a certain Rahul Dravid made 95 and a new generation of Indian batsmen were born, much to the delight of the over-burdened Sachin Tendulkar and the Indian cricket fans.

For the next 4 years, till early 2000, Ganguly, now known as "Dada" within the team, was a consistent performer for the Indian side, especially in his new found role as Tendulkar's opening partner in the one day game. Together, they obliterated many a record of Haynes-Greenidge and forged what is now rightly called the best opening combination in ODI history.

In 2000, when Tendulkar renounced captaincy and when a match fixing scandal engulfed Indian cricket, the selectors turned to a "youngster" as captain. Since Sourav was the only player established in both test and ODI teams, he was the default choice as skipper.

It was in Nairobi, in the ICC knockout later that year that he flourished as captain and showcased the new India for the first time on the cricket ground. The adage "Team India" was seemingly coined at this juncture and it sure was a proud moment for Dada and India both.He also vouched for a "foreign coach" along with the senior players and the concept of the no-baggage, no bias coach bore fruition with John Wright taking over in late 2000.

The litmus test for the duo was when the all conquering Australians arrived in 2001 and Dada annoyed his counterpart by turning up late for the toss, ignoring him and all such idiosyncrasies which shook his opponents. It wasn't the protocol by any means, but it was damn effective alright. It was all in the intention of getting his team to win the mental battles. The Aussies grudgingly acknowledged that here was a tough cookie, an opponent whom they loved to hate. He backed this behaviour up with innovative tactics and India conjured up their most memorable triumph in history in a series that is part of folklore.

He encouraged Laxman, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Pathan, Dhoni,Zaheer and many a youngster thrived under his tutelage and took on the mantle of match-winner in the team.

During 2000-2004, Dada became a great batsman in ODI cricket and a damn good one in Tests. India won matches abroad (a new and refreshing phenomenon) during this time and also were pretty much unbeatable at home. But his supposed waterloo came in 2005 v Pakistan. He was struggling with the bat and his often deplorable ground fielding was beginning to show. He didn't seem to deserve a place in the side, but carried on. It was to be a big mistake.
He was inspired by Greg Chappell during the 2003-04 Oz tour, when a few chinks in his techniques were instantly sorted out after a talk with the great man. So, he went ahead and recommended Greg as the successor to John Wright. It was a blunder he was to regret later.

Greg sent out an obnoxious mail, about the bad influence that Dada was having in the side, to the BCCI and it was promptly leaked in the media. Dada felt cheated by Greg. The contents of the mail were truly inflammatory. But as fate would have it, Dada lost the captaincy and thereby his place in the side. For the next one year, he was a true taboo in Indian cricket. With the coach having none of him, he was being spoken about in the past tense. But it was to change.After the youngsters (whom Greg backed)failed to live up to expectations, Ganguly was recalled in December 2006, on the tour of SouthAfrica.

He was all guts and gumption in that SouthAfrica series and the sight of him fighting for a few more runs for India with the No.11 batsman at the crease was something his detractors also appreciated. It's hard to keep a good man down. That was a lesson learnt by many.

He played well in the disastrous World Cup campaign in 2007, but was released from One day duties for good in late 2007 by Dhoni, who wanted to build a team of youth and rightly so.
Dada performed superbly in tests in 2007-08 and made a heroic 239 at Bangalore and an even more personally significant and emotional hundred at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, his theatre of dreams.

However,after a poor series in Srilanka in mid 2008, the knives were out for the umpteenth time. He was dropped from the Rest of India side, jeopardizing his preparation for the Oz series at home.
With the changing of the selection committee, Dada was thrown another lifeline. But this time he had had enough. Visibly frustrated, he announced at the start of the series that it was to be his last.This, he felt,was his only chance to go out on his own terms.

He made a gritty hundred in the Mohali test and was always among the runs in the series. Not least the 85 he made in his penultimate innings. He made a golden duck in this last try, but I am sure it was a moment that he will look back philosophically in due course. He was deeply disappointed to narrowly miss out on joining his "best-buddy" Greg Chappell in the list of players who have made a ton in both their first and last test matches.

To put things in perspective, Dada was not a great test batsman. Far from it. He was an honest trier and fighter. To be fair, he was a trifle lucky to be mentioned in the same sentence as his more illustrious colleagues as part of the Fab Four. He sure was the 4th best in that group, the top 3 of which is a non debate. But to his credit, he performed day in and day out, made utmost use of his talent and played 113 tests for India. Only a handful have played more.

Dada, despite his batting exploits, will always be remembered as the man who changed the face of Indian cricket. "Lambs abroad and tigers at home" was a notion that was erased in his era, so was the favoritism that was a part and parcel of cricket in the land.Many a good player maybe born in the future, but truly inspirational leaders like Dada come once in a generation. Whenever he was down in the dumps, a miracle saved him, proving he truly was a child of destiny.

The nucleus of the present team, which I am sure will do wonders under MSD, was formed in the Ganguly era. Younger players like Sehwag, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Dhoni will, till date do anything for their beloved Daadi.

He taught the present India to fight. He gave meaning to the theory that we are no less than anyone else.

I salute my hero. He will be sorely missed.
Thanks for everything Dada..