Monday, August 8, 2011
Friends Categorized
FRIEND:-A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself
I have now experienced life for more than twenty four years and in all these years, I have come across many people, who became friends, but, all of different kinds. I have travelled, shifted home, passed college, changed places, and so, there are a variety of friends that I made at every turn.
On Friendship Day, I categorise the kind of people I have met in my friend list categories.
Childhood Friends
At an age, when innocence dominated my mannerisms, I made friends, when I did not even know the meaning of the word. I just knew that these were people I can play with, I can fight with, I can eat with and I can tell their names to people who kept asking me, "Do you have friends in school baby?"
Today, many of those friends are nowhere in the picture, but then, thanks to social media, I have managed to get in touch with the ones that I remember, and the ones who remember me. But, they remain childhood friends, and somehow, it's not the same equation with them now.
School Friends
School is probably one place where a person makes the maximum number of friends. There is nothing better than belonging to a great group of friends and nothing worse than feeling like an outcast.Fortunately I belonged to the first group.Till primary these were the friends,with whom I walked through the school corridors,with whom I shared my tiffin box,with whom I shared some secrets,with whom I played cricket ,with whom I studied and of course,with whom I had fights.
But school friends were always fun friends. They would never ask for anything more than an extra pencil or an extra pen. To add to this category is also 'Tuition friends', who are similar.
Then we went to secy school.Our friendship blossomed.The bonding became even more stronger.Our friendship was no more only tiffin friends or study table friends,it became lot more than that.We knew each other inside out.Some of them, still remain a special part.
College Friends
By the time, one enters college, a child becomes a youngster and a 'mature adult'. College was place, where everyone was a friend, but with a 'conditions apply' tag. College taught me a different kind of friendship altogether.
Here, I saw friends for 'notes', friends for fun, friends for hanging out with, friends for drinks, friends for work, and yes, friends...just plain friends.
Crush Friends
This is a dangerous category of friends. These are friends I have to be very careful with, while talking to. The list of people under this category is very short one with hardly a couple of names. These are friends, I have had a crush on, but, they still are my friends.
While I have liked them in a different way, but with the passage of time, they have gone back to what they were - Friends. Guess, it's safe to keep it that way than losing them.
Cricket Friends
Cricket holds a special place in my life as it keeps me away from all the hullabaloos of life's stress. Therefore, cricket friends are the ones, I always end up having a good time with, alongside with some friendly banters.
Work Friends
Work friends are people I spend the most of my time with now-a-days. While we are in office, along with sharing a formal official relationship, some of us are friends, in a sense that we chat about things other than work, we give and take suggestions about our life, we gossip, and again, we eat together.
However, the fact remains that we're 'Office Friends' or 'Work Friends' and so, the relationship remains restricted and within limits.
Neighbourhood Friends
With shifting houses from Puri to Bhubaneswar and then to Kolkata , neighbourhood friends have been another 'come and go' affair with me. When at home, these are friends who make life lighter, in the sense that after a busy day out, friends in the neighbourhood give you a reason for a nice chat or a walk around the streets at the end of the day.
Family Friends
While I like some family friends, there are others who I feel are forced upon me. I have to be friends with them as they have a connection with my family.
Random Facebook Friends
Well, I must admit that half of these friends are people whose names are there in my social networking friend lists only because we have a lot of mutual friends, or because they are friends of friends.
These are people I hardly know, to be honest.
Friends
Yes, just plain friends as I can't define people in this category under a better word. The list is small, with very few people and these people are genuine friends. They have been there through the thick and thin. They are not my friends for any motive. They enjoy my company and I enjoy theirs.
From school friends, to family friends, they cover all categories and make a perfect 'buddy'. These are friends I don't need to explain things to. They just understand, and they are the people I can never end up having a bad time with, even if we fight or argue.
Dedicated to all my friends
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
AS DADA DEPARTS
The doors of IPL has firmly shut on Saurav Chandidas Ganguly. The 38-year old former Indian captain is without buyers in a tournament where about a hundred odd Indian players found bidders. It was inevitable that he stopped playing at some stage, but to go out this way was not fitting for someone of his stature.
You can never again see him on the field caressing the cricket ball through a packed off-side field. Never again will you see him loft spinners out of the park with disdain. An era has come to an end. Yet very few acknowledge it.
Let us look back on the career of the man to whom, Indian cricket owes a little more than a lot. I don’t think any other cricketer was talked about or discussed as much as 'Dada'. He is the kind of person whom you have to hate or like; you just cannot ignore him.
He would have been the Indian cricketer of this era but for a short man from Mumbai. He did not complain, for he was not as great a batsman as Dravid or a genius like Sachin, but he inspired. He was a star, but a star who was a human, a flawed one at that. He had his flaws and he had his virtues, but he made his virtues count. And, he wore his heart on his sleeves.
The year was 2000, Indian cricket was like a ship caught in the tornado of match fixing. A few heads rolled and the side was left without a captain. Sachin tried his luck and found none.
Enter Ganguly.
In the few years that followed, he ushered in a new era in Indian cricket. He brought in a change and it showed. His boys did not fit the image of the stereotypical meek Indian cricketer. He instilled in his team, a killer instinct and ‘in your face’ attitude. His side was not the best in the world, but it was the best India had in a very long time. And, on its day Ganguly’s boys could make even the mighty Aussies cry. Ganguly found Indian cricket in shambles and left it in a state that was far better than the one in which he found it.
He backed his team to the hilt. He irked the selectors and picked his own men. And, they paid back the captain by winning. The Indian side tasted success and developed a taste for it under Ganguly.
There are leaders who push from the back and there are leaders who march in the front; Ganguly was the latter. Cricket is a game of the mind, and Dada knew it more than most captains. He had no qualms about irking Steve Waugh by making him wait at the toss or shocking the entire cricket fraternity by running bare-chested at the Lord’s. The sight of Dada flinging his t-shirt from the Lord’s Balcony will remain the image of the new era of Indian cricket that is not afraid to attack and thrives on aggression. To him every game was a war, which he had to win.
In a time when Australia was considered unbeatable, Ganguly inspired his team to beat them in their own backyard. Even his critics acknowledge the fact that he was India’s best captain (Oh, he had the results too!)
Ganguly, the captain had his favourites. But, that was because he knew talent when he saw it. He stood by his players, often giving them support like no other captain could and inspiring them to perform. Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh – they had all been Dada’s favourites and they all owe it to his unflinching support and belief in their abilities. It was Ganguly who spotted the immensely talented Dhoni and pretty soon, he was thrashing the ball around wearing the blues. That’s almost half the current Indian side and then you realise the real contribution Dada made to Indian cricket.
There are very few sights more beautiful in cricket than Sourav Ganguly on song facing a spinner. The seemingly effortless manner in which he lofts them out of the park was surely a sight to behold. His 183 against Sri Lanka in the 1999 world cup could still be giving Muttiah Muralitharan nightmares. Wherever Murali bowled, there was only one place the ball would go; and that was out of the park.
The Aussies tested him with a packed offside ring with seven fielders, but in his prime, he still managed to pierce it and find the fence. He was attacked with short balls, but never did he shy away from playing the pull shot which more often than not, got him out.
Yes, he was lazy between the wickets. Running for runs was not for him. He preferred scoring runs by making the opposition run to the fence.
Ganguly, the batsman was hugely underrated and an under-performer too. For, someone who scored a century in his very first test match, he did not live up to the expectations. But, the careers of some players are more than just the statistics (not that his were bad, he sure could have done better!)
Even if he was terribly out-of-form, his elegant cover drives promised he was just a hit away from being back on top; often to deceive.
Few captains could have inspired their teams the way Dada did. The Indian team’s inspired run into the finals of the 2003 world cup, if only to lose to the Aussies, was a major milestone in the history of Indian cricket.
But, somewhere he went wrong. His batting was in shambles and it reflected on his captaincy. And soon he became the modern day Indian Cricket’s hero who hung around a little too long to see himself become the villain. But that was totally Sourav Ganguly - unpredictable as a roulette wheel.
Ganguly was exciting and fun to watch. You could not predict what would happen the next moment if he was on the field. And, when he was on the field, the battle was always on.
He could have cut a deal with the board and retired in peace, without all the ‘dropping’ controversies. But that would have been so much unlike Dada. He liked to play it as it came. He tested his fate continuously and often emerged on top. And he took failures gracefully, only to come back with a vengeance. He risked the shame and ridicule that would befall him were he to return and fail.
That is a matter of heart. And I guess that is what makes him dear to millions.
No matter how many times he was thrown out, like an unwanted kitten; he always found his way back home – into the team.
Lesser mortals would have given up, then and there. But not Ganguly. He went back to playing Ranji cricket, got himself selected into the national team again. And in his last season as an international cricketer, he was India’s top run getter in tests and second in the world.
He had made his point. Hit his critics back where it hurt the most. And then he called it a day.
His tryst with the IPL was a normal one, if you ask me. But, he was the best, KKR had, and in the last edition of IPL, he pulled off some age-defying diving catches and big hits. He still had some cricket left in him.
As far as I am concerned, Indian cricket lost a viewer the day Sourav retired and IPL lost one this week.
One might think that this is the last time he is making the headlines. But, with Ganguly, you never know!
Dada will surely be missed.
You can never again see him on the field caressing the cricket ball through a packed off-side field. Never again will you see him loft spinners out of the park with disdain. An era has come to an end. Yet very few acknowledge it.
Let us look back on the career of the man to whom, Indian cricket owes a little more than a lot. I don’t think any other cricketer was talked about or discussed as much as 'Dada'. He is the kind of person whom you have to hate or like; you just cannot ignore him.
He would have been the Indian cricketer of this era but for a short man from Mumbai. He did not complain, for he was not as great a batsman as Dravid or a genius like Sachin, but he inspired. He was a star, but a star who was a human, a flawed one at that. He had his flaws and he had his virtues, but he made his virtues count. And, he wore his heart on his sleeves.
The year was 2000, Indian cricket was like a ship caught in the tornado of match fixing. A few heads rolled and the side was left without a captain. Sachin tried his luck and found none.
Enter Ganguly.
In the few years that followed, he ushered in a new era in Indian cricket. He brought in a change and it showed. His boys did not fit the image of the stereotypical meek Indian cricketer. He instilled in his team, a killer instinct and ‘in your face’ attitude. His side was not the best in the world, but it was the best India had in a very long time. And, on its day Ganguly’s boys could make even the mighty Aussies cry. Ganguly found Indian cricket in shambles and left it in a state that was far better than the one in which he found it.
He backed his team to the hilt. He irked the selectors and picked his own men. And, they paid back the captain by winning. The Indian side tasted success and developed a taste for it under Ganguly.
There are leaders who push from the back and there are leaders who march in the front; Ganguly was the latter. Cricket is a game of the mind, and Dada knew it more than most captains. He had no qualms about irking Steve Waugh by making him wait at the toss or shocking the entire cricket fraternity by running bare-chested at the Lord’s. The sight of Dada flinging his t-shirt from the Lord’s Balcony will remain the image of the new era of Indian cricket that is not afraid to attack and thrives on aggression. To him every game was a war, which he had to win.
In a time when Australia was considered unbeatable, Ganguly inspired his team to beat them in their own backyard. Even his critics acknowledge the fact that he was India’s best captain (Oh, he had the results too!)
Ganguly, the captain had his favourites. But, that was because he knew talent when he saw it. He stood by his players, often giving them support like no other captain could and inspiring them to perform. Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh – they had all been Dada’s favourites and they all owe it to his unflinching support and belief in their abilities. It was Ganguly who spotted the immensely talented Dhoni and pretty soon, he was thrashing the ball around wearing the blues. That’s almost half the current Indian side and then you realise the real contribution Dada made to Indian cricket.
There are very few sights more beautiful in cricket than Sourav Ganguly on song facing a spinner. The seemingly effortless manner in which he lofts them out of the park was surely a sight to behold. His 183 against Sri Lanka in the 1999 world cup could still be giving Muttiah Muralitharan nightmares. Wherever Murali bowled, there was only one place the ball would go; and that was out of the park.
The Aussies tested him with a packed offside ring with seven fielders, but in his prime, he still managed to pierce it and find the fence. He was attacked with short balls, but never did he shy away from playing the pull shot which more often than not, got him out.
Yes, he was lazy between the wickets. Running for runs was not for him. He preferred scoring runs by making the opposition run to the fence.
Ganguly, the batsman was hugely underrated and an under-performer too. For, someone who scored a century in his very first test match, he did not live up to the expectations. But, the careers of some players are more than just the statistics (not that his were bad, he sure could have done better!)
Even if he was terribly out-of-form, his elegant cover drives promised he was just a hit away from being back on top; often to deceive.
Few captains could have inspired their teams the way Dada did. The Indian team’s inspired run into the finals of the 2003 world cup, if only to lose to the Aussies, was a major milestone in the history of Indian cricket.
But, somewhere he went wrong. His batting was in shambles and it reflected on his captaincy. And soon he became the modern day Indian Cricket’s hero who hung around a little too long to see himself become the villain. But that was totally Sourav Ganguly - unpredictable as a roulette wheel.
Ganguly was exciting and fun to watch. You could not predict what would happen the next moment if he was on the field. And, when he was on the field, the battle was always on.
He could have cut a deal with the board and retired in peace, without all the ‘dropping’ controversies. But that would have been so much unlike Dada. He liked to play it as it came. He tested his fate continuously and often emerged on top. And he took failures gracefully, only to come back with a vengeance. He risked the shame and ridicule that would befall him were he to return and fail.
That is a matter of heart. And I guess that is what makes him dear to millions.
No matter how many times he was thrown out, like an unwanted kitten; he always found his way back home – into the team.
Lesser mortals would have given up, then and there. But not Ganguly. He went back to playing Ranji cricket, got himself selected into the national team again. And in his last season as an international cricketer, he was India’s top run getter in tests and second in the world.
He had made his point. Hit his critics back where it hurt the most. And then he called it a day.
His tryst with the IPL was a normal one, if you ask me. But, he was the best, KKR had, and in the last edition of IPL, he pulled off some age-defying diving catches and big hits. He still had some cricket left in him.
As far as I am concerned, Indian cricket lost a viewer the day Sourav retired and IPL lost one this week.
One might think that this is the last time he is making the headlines. But, with Ganguly, you never know!
Dada will surely be missed.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
An Enigma called SOURAV GANGULY
June 1996,Mecca of cricket,Lords,London:
Against the likes of Cork,Mullalay,Martin a bespectacled,exuberant youngster from Calcutta who had been written off by cricket pundits after an inauspicious debut in 1992 cracked a phenomenal century on a chill,windy,biting morning at the United Kingdom.
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly had announced his arrival at the world stage.
Twelve years later,in a routine press conference at Bangalore:
"Just one last thing lads, before I leave. I just want to say that this is going to be my last series. I have decided to quit."These were the words used by a mature Sourav Ganguly which shook the roots of Indian Cricket.The choice of words was tantalising,he said 'Quit' instead of 'Retire'.That in itself reflects the lone battle he was waging with the never ending BCCI politics.
Lets play the numbers game;
400 matches,18000 runs,37 centuries ,150 wickets,a healthy average of over 40 and 1 bad series was all it took for the axe to fall on his head.When the whole of Fabulous Four fail against the mystic spin of Mendis and Muralitharan why was sourav zeroed in and dropped from the Rest of India squad?Is this the way to treat a cricketer who played his heart out everytime he donned the Indian colours?
Was it a golden handshake or was it Sourav's own decision,we will never know.There will always be debates raging about the timing of the call; whether Sourav could have played for another ten months or so.Lets respect his decision;C'mon we have been scrutinising every move of his,over the last decade.He is the best person to judge his career.
What the tainted images of Mohd.Azhruddin,Ajay Jadeja or even a Kapil Dev,Dilip Vengsarkar couldnt figure out(time to retire),Dada has.As long as you play for India it is absolutely fine but when one begins to dance to the internal politics,Sourav is not the one to face the music,he plays his own.
All it matters is at the end of the day,Sourav has signalled his exit with dignity.
Sourav,the cricketerA career which has seen it all.Unimaginable peaks,depth of controversies,team loyalty,internal conspiracies, drawbacks, comebacks,disappointing defeats and intangible victories.
Rahul Dravid says,"On the off side ,next to God,there is Sourav."
Strong words,but Sourav lived up to it.His ability to pierce through any field on the off side won him his opponent's agony.Ganguly cleared the ropes with ease,the victims being the slower bowlers predominantly.Who could possibly forget his 183 against the Sri Lankans in the 1999 World Cup???Muralitharan was taken to the cleaners.At a point of time in the late 90's Sourav Ganguly became the most feared batsman in world cricket with 7 centuries under his belt in a single season.
The Prince of Kolkata could turn a match on its head in a space of a few overs,not only with the bat but also with the ball.His 5-16 against arch rivals Pakistan will never be forgotten by the people on both sides of the border.His intimidating stance,adventurous strokes,sweet timing,deft placements dented the confidence of bowlers across the globe.Earning himself the name The Royal Bengal Tiger,he was always on the prowl...
The leader
When Sourav Ganguly took the reigns from Azharuddin,Indian cricket was in dire straits.It had been rocked by the match fixing scandal.Top players had been caught.There was hardly any experience in the Indian side.Tendulkar had been burdened by the expectations of captaincy.A normal cricketer who had accepted the captaincy would have been a victim of the circumstances but the name was Sourav Ganguly.He gleefully accepted the responsibility and shouldered it with zeal.He moulded an inexperienced outfit into world beaters.He made the youngsters believe in themselves.Sehwag,Yuvraj,Kaif,Harbhajan,Zaheer,Parthiv enjoyed their captain's backing.He changed the face of Indian Cricket,bringing about a huge transition.
The team no longer lacked the killer instinct.Aggression was one adjective which went with Sourav Ganguly.He led the team with gusto making Rahul Dravid keep wickets and cement his place in the one day side.Some called him adamant,some adventurous.Sourav was not the one to bother about critics."Dont worry about things which are beyond your control."he said.The results reflected his words.He had delivered the goods to the people of India.Indian Team was tranformed into Team India
The Attitude
Can any Indian dream of making an icy cool Stephen Roger Waugh lose his calm.
Sourav Ganguly did.He made Waugh wait unconditionally for the toss.He looked into the eyes of his counterparts.He tormented the Aussies at their own backyard.The streak of aggression he brought in inculcated fears in the minds of the opponents. Dada almost spoilt Steve Waugh's Farewell series.He was one cricketer who shed all inhibitions about reputations.
People said he wore his heart on his sleeve,the English team will always remember Sourav's shirt swinging act at the Lord's balcony in reply to Andrew Flintoff's bare chest scene in India.An excited Sourav took off the Indian jersey and swung it sending Indians back home into a dizzy.England had to bow down to the Maharaj of Cricket.Moral of the stroy:We give back what we get.
The Conquests
Pakistan was sent searching for cover when Sourav Ganguly's boys thrashed them convincingly in both forms of the game in Pakistan itself.No other Indian skipper had manged to do this.The epic 3 match test series against Australia in 2001 where India came from rock bottom to register a series triumphwill stand testimony to his positive attitude.Champions Trophy triumphs,World Cup finals added to the numbers in his list of victories.The skipper trusted his instincts.He proved everyone wrong when he elected to bat on a windy day,when the ball was swinging both sides.He went on to the extent of pursuading Javagal Srinath to comeback after retirement.Obviously he had to succeed. Sourav's ability in man management and nurturing youngsters went a long way in him becoming India's most succesful test skipper ever.
Comeback King Sourav Ganguly Part 2:The Tiger's Final Roar :
"It is easier to give up.All you need to say is I Quit.The tough part is to carry on"-Sourav Ganguly.
A Greg Chappell or a Kiran More would be able to author this section in a better fashion than me!!!
In a public spat in the year 2006 with the then coach Greg Chappell ,Ganguly was stripped of his captaincy.Accused of lack of motivational and fitness levels Ganguly was dropped."All doors are shut on Ganguly.He cant make it to the team forever" said chairman of selectors Kiran More.(Think twice before you speak,but who cares?!!?!)
Sourav lost his place in the side.Sourav lost his touch but what Sourav did'nt lose was his belief. He went back to the basics,played for Bengal,scored heavily in the Duleep Trophy and after a string of losses for the Indian side,Sourav was recalled.What followed was the most dramatic and remarkable comebacks in world cricket.The man was on a mission to prove his distractors wrong,he did and how!Sourav Ganguly Part 2 was unleashed on the field,his will power and determination came to the forefront.Sourav won the test of his life.Scoring runs like never before,Ganguly was the top run getter for the Indian team in Tests and piled over a 1000 runs in both forms of the game in the calendar year.Subsequently,Ganguly was awarded the Castrol Asian Cricket of the Year.
Greg Chappel,Kiran More,need anything more?!?!?!Shock of your lives eh?!?!,C'mon yaar...it is Sourav Ganguly....you should have been prepared for it!
Against the likes of Cork,Mullalay,Martin a bespectacled,exuberant youngster from Calcutta who had been written off by cricket pundits after an inauspicious debut in 1992 cracked a phenomenal century on a chill,windy,biting morning at the United Kingdom.
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly had announced his arrival at the world stage.
Twelve years later,in a routine press conference at Bangalore:
"Just one last thing lads, before I leave. I just want to say that this is going to be my last series. I have decided to quit."These were the words used by a mature Sourav Ganguly which shook the roots of Indian Cricket.The choice of words was tantalising,he said 'Quit' instead of 'Retire'.That in itself reflects the lone battle he was waging with the never ending BCCI politics.
Lets play the numbers game;
400 matches,18000 runs,37 centuries ,150 wickets,a healthy average of over 40 and 1 bad series was all it took for the axe to fall on his head.When the whole of Fabulous Four fail against the mystic spin of Mendis and Muralitharan why was sourav zeroed in and dropped from the Rest of India squad?Is this the way to treat a cricketer who played his heart out everytime he donned the Indian colours?
Was it a golden handshake or was it Sourav's own decision,we will never know.There will always be debates raging about the timing of the call; whether Sourav could have played for another ten months or so.Lets respect his decision;C'mon we have been scrutinising every move of his,over the last decade.He is the best person to judge his career.
What the tainted images of Mohd.Azhruddin,Ajay Jadeja or even a Kapil Dev,Dilip Vengsarkar couldnt figure out(time to retire),Dada has.As long as you play for India it is absolutely fine but when one begins to dance to the internal politics,Sourav is not the one to face the music,he plays his own.
All it matters is at the end of the day,Sourav has signalled his exit with dignity.
Sourav,the cricketerA career which has seen it all.Unimaginable peaks,depth of controversies,team loyalty,internal conspiracies, drawbacks, comebacks,disappointing defeats and intangible victories.
Rahul Dravid says,"On the off side ,next to God,there is Sourav."
Strong words,but Sourav lived up to it.His ability to pierce through any field on the off side won him his opponent's agony.Ganguly cleared the ropes with ease,the victims being the slower bowlers predominantly.Who could possibly forget his 183 against the Sri Lankans in the 1999 World Cup???Muralitharan was taken to the cleaners.At a point of time in the late 90's Sourav Ganguly became the most feared batsman in world cricket with 7 centuries under his belt in a single season.
The Prince of Kolkata could turn a match on its head in a space of a few overs,not only with the bat but also with the ball.His 5-16 against arch rivals Pakistan will never be forgotten by the people on both sides of the border.His intimidating stance,adventurous strokes,sweet timing,deft placements dented the confidence of bowlers across the globe.Earning himself the name The Royal Bengal Tiger,he was always on the prowl...
The leader
When Sourav Ganguly took the reigns from Azharuddin,Indian cricket was in dire straits.It had been rocked by the match fixing scandal.Top players had been caught.There was hardly any experience in the Indian side.Tendulkar had been burdened by the expectations of captaincy.A normal cricketer who had accepted the captaincy would have been a victim of the circumstances but the name was Sourav Ganguly.He gleefully accepted the responsibility and shouldered it with zeal.He moulded an inexperienced outfit into world beaters.He made the youngsters believe in themselves.Sehwag,Yuvraj,Kaif,Harbhajan,Zaheer,Parthiv enjoyed their captain's backing.He changed the face of Indian Cricket,bringing about a huge transition.
The team no longer lacked the killer instinct.Aggression was one adjective which went with Sourav Ganguly.He led the team with gusto making Rahul Dravid keep wickets and cement his place in the one day side.Some called him adamant,some adventurous.Sourav was not the one to bother about critics."Dont worry about things which are beyond your control."he said.The results reflected his words.He had delivered the goods to the people of India.Indian Team was tranformed into Team India
The Attitude
Can any Indian dream of making an icy cool Stephen Roger Waugh lose his calm.
Sourav Ganguly did.He made Waugh wait unconditionally for the toss.He looked into the eyes of his counterparts.He tormented the Aussies at their own backyard.The streak of aggression he brought in inculcated fears in the minds of the opponents. Dada almost spoilt Steve Waugh's Farewell series.He was one cricketer who shed all inhibitions about reputations.
People said he wore his heart on his sleeve,the English team will always remember Sourav's shirt swinging act at the Lord's balcony in reply to Andrew Flintoff's bare chest scene in India.An excited Sourav took off the Indian jersey and swung it sending Indians back home into a dizzy.England had to bow down to the Maharaj of Cricket.Moral of the stroy:We give back what we get.
The Conquests
Pakistan was sent searching for cover when Sourav Ganguly's boys thrashed them convincingly in both forms of the game in Pakistan itself.No other Indian skipper had manged to do this.The epic 3 match test series against Australia in 2001 where India came from rock bottom to register a series triumphwill stand testimony to his positive attitude.Champions Trophy triumphs,World Cup finals added to the numbers in his list of victories.The skipper trusted his instincts.He proved everyone wrong when he elected to bat on a windy day,when the ball was swinging both sides.He went on to the extent of pursuading Javagal Srinath to comeback after retirement.Obviously he had to succeed. Sourav's ability in man management and nurturing youngsters went a long way in him becoming India's most succesful test skipper ever.
Comeback King Sourav Ganguly Part 2:The Tiger's Final Roar :
"It is easier to give up.All you need to say is I Quit.The tough part is to carry on"-Sourav Ganguly.
A Greg Chappell or a Kiran More would be able to author this section in a better fashion than me!!!
In a public spat in the year 2006 with the then coach Greg Chappell ,Ganguly was stripped of his captaincy.Accused of lack of motivational and fitness levels Ganguly was dropped."All doors are shut on Ganguly.He cant make it to the team forever" said chairman of selectors Kiran More.(Think twice before you speak,but who cares?!!?!)
Sourav lost his place in the side.Sourav lost his touch but what Sourav did'nt lose was his belief. He went back to the basics,played for Bengal,scored heavily in the Duleep Trophy and after a string of losses for the Indian side,Sourav was recalled.What followed was the most dramatic and remarkable comebacks in world cricket.The man was on a mission to prove his distractors wrong,he did and how!Sourav Ganguly Part 2 was unleashed on the field,his will power and determination came to the forefront.Sourav won the test of his life.Scoring runs like never before,Ganguly was the top run getter for the Indian team in Tests and piled over a 1000 runs in both forms of the game in the calendar year.Subsequently,Ganguly was awarded the Castrol Asian Cricket of the Year.
Greg Chappel,Kiran More,need anything more?!?!?!Shock of your lives eh?!?!,C'mon yaar...it is Sourav Ganguly....you should have been prepared for it!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Candidly Speaking: When a GOD was mortalized !
Today with the culmination of IPL4 auctions I came to the end of a wonderful chapter of my life. The chapter named Cricket. Although the last paragraph in Cricket still remains unread I know that the chapter is pretty much done for me. The last line that I read marked the beginning of the climax of a glorious story in which "God on the Off side" was Crowned as "Prince of a City of Joy". In this story the Prince created a legend of his own quite different from the other Kings who also find glorious truisms through out. The other Kings are Gods in their own Right too and each worth more than the word itself. But I am not going to mention them here for they deserve a separate dedication. I ended reading the chapter as the story got filthier with the God on the offside finding an unceremonious exit.
The God on the off side, the Crown Prince, is famously known as Sourav Ganguly a.k.a Dada. He created his legion of fans who could trump all logical reasoning for a dose of insanity, for he was their ambrosia. They would go to lengths where they could immolate themselves to protect the Prince from being harmed. But then fans are meant to be unreasonable.
I am here to dedicate an ode, for the Prince himself, which reads something like this -
You are the God on the offside, With that glorious cover drive -- { memories of the cricket field}
You are an attitude, Which made the team stand up with pride -- { the Australian tour of India & vice versa }
You saved the game, From a bunch of fixers -- { took over captaincy from Azhar in 2000 }
You made the game look beautiful, With those "dancing down the track" sixers -- { memories of Toronto galore}
You waged a lone war, Standing behind enemy lines -- { the era of Greg "Chappal" }
You made a glorious comeback each time, Defying their sinister designs -- { the SA tour & MoS in Vizag }
You are Sourav Ganguly, A name which no money can buy -- { proved literally true in IPL4 }
You are my (our, Kolkata's, India's) Dada, To see you bat again I am ready to die. -- { Ask me }
With the story's penultimate paragraph I have learnt a valuable lesson. Business & sports can't go hand in hand. Both are wars but of different kinds.
The war of Business is fraught with Greed, Cold emotions & Inglorious Bastards.
The war of Sports is fought with Grit, Killer instincts & Glorious uncertainties.
The God on the off side, the Crown Prince, is famously known as Sourav Ganguly a.k.a Dada. He created his legion of fans who could trump all logical reasoning for a dose of insanity, for he was their ambrosia. They would go to lengths where they could immolate themselves to protect the Prince from being harmed. But then fans are meant to be unreasonable.
I am here to dedicate an ode, for the Prince himself, which reads something like this -
You are the God on the offside, With that glorious cover drive -- { memories of the cricket field}
You are an attitude, Which made the team stand up with pride -- { the Australian tour of India & vice versa }
You saved the game, From a bunch of fixers -- { took over captaincy from Azhar in 2000 }
You made the game look beautiful, With those "dancing down the track" sixers -- { memories of Toronto galore}
You waged a lone war, Standing behind enemy lines -- { the era of Greg "Chappal" }
You made a glorious comeback each time, Defying their sinister designs -- { the SA tour & MoS in Vizag }
You are Sourav Ganguly, A name which no money can buy -- { proved literally true in IPL4 }
You are my (our, Kolkata's, India's) Dada, To see you bat again I am ready to die. -- { Ask me }
With the story's penultimate paragraph I have learnt a valuable lesson. Business & sports can't go hand in hand. Both are wars but of different kinds.
The war of Business is fraught with Greed, Cold emotions & Inglorious Bastards.
The war of Sports is fought with Grit, Killer instincts & Glorious uncertainties.
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