A Tribute to Sourav Ganguly

In the blue jersey he came out to bat against the sri lankans with India chasing in one of the one day series matches….the year 1996-97…he had a lot of brilliance in his batting and on his face…walked with his head held high….broad shoulders…and a sparkling gold chain hanging down his throat…..India lost the match though but Sourav had made a fighting 31 not out….and shown some resistance and grit much to my expectations.

I’d been following the then new sensation of Indian Cricket Sourav Ganguly…(Rahul Dravid was the other)…..I was excited about the player…..had read about his dream test debut at lords…..the manner in which he was described as the would be legend by the cricket pundits made me even more eager to watch him play…..that was the first time I saw dada play…I was so happy I had found my hero…..everyone needs a role model in life…someone one could relate to…and learn from……everyone needs an example to follow….I found my inspiration in dada….though I didn’t know much about him then….but his majestic appearance and glory tales couldn’t help me be his fan.

           The years passed by…every inning every match …I was cheering for India and dada….deriving inspiration in one form or the other…..his story is nothing less than a fairy tale….both in personal and professional spheres…Marrying your childhood love against the will of your parents…..getting caught up in an extra marital affair….facing allegations that his selection in the team was more of favor than talent and proving everyone wrong…..dada had faced it early in his life….but little did he know that this was the beginning.

            So dada succeeded Azhar as captain…the Indian team got reformed under his captaincy….record books were filled with historical wins….like the natwest series win and India’s dream run of world cup 2003…success was at dada’s feet but something had changed in dada…..the grace of the Bengal tiger had changed into arrogance…as a fan I could smell it….and it was something that disappointed me…..sourav was loosing form….although the team was performing well…..there was a point when sourav was in the team only because he was the captain….but his attitude on and off the field was something I was not too happy about as a fan…sourav had changed….he didn’t earn much of my respect…..and even I wanted him out of the team…..ultimately because of his poor performance dada was out…..personally I felt bad and disappointed as a fan….or rather an ex-fan………Sourav had shown signs that he still wanted to play and claimed that he had a lot of cricket left in him…….as for me since he had failed my trust…I had no respect left for him…and I personally felt that it would be impossible for him to make his way back into the MSD team…but destiny had different plans….here we see how a person grows when everything seems to be going against him. Sourav Ganguly-the name was being mocked upon by everyone in the cricketing world….he seemed to be making a fool of himself by talking about a comeback….his fans had lost trust in his abilities…Sourav didn’t loose faith in himself…..even when the world was against him…this is something  sourav taught all his fans…

 

“Tough times never last….but tough people do”

-Robert Schuller

There are tough times in everyone’s life…..times we feel like letting go….times we feel helpless…..times we loose a bit of our brittle and precious self esteem….times we are on are knees and the world is trying to keep us permanently there….times we need to take a decision and show the courage to stick to it…..denying the opinion even our loved and trusted ones have about ourselves…….that is what being oneself is all about…..it sounds easy though….”Be Yourself”…..but the word my friends has a lot of meaning and not many have the guts to aim and claim the glory……Dada most certainly has this. He showed us the way……the way to act with courage when you need to act with it…….the way to be yourself when fear and doubt surrounds you and you get brooded all over with despair…..the way to:

 

“When you reach the end of the rope.......Tie a knot and hang on”

-Thomas Jefferson

 

Today I’m a proud dada fan….he has one my respect like anythingand shown me the way. Dada is again the old dada……proud but a lot more humble and mature something I’d craved to see in him……I salute you Sourav…we all will miss you.