Dada bows out

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

Without hustle of any sorts, bang came the press conference of Sourav Ganguly (aka Dada, Prince of Kolkata , Bengal Tiger) declaring to bow out after the home test series against OZ's. Great cricketers, great tacticians , great players always take the right decision at the right time. The time is picture perfect for Ganguly as well.Did it take the cricketing world by surprise ? Yes , for a few but many thought that his far from his prime form and it was the right time.

There was so much talking in the media whether it is the right time to retire. But he is not at his personal best both in terms of his cricketing career and his persona. I am hoping for a perfect finish for him during this test series. To me this would open a whole lot of opportunities for new youngsters to play and prove their mettle at the biggest level.

The biggest inspiration to be drawn from him is the way he took Indian cricket to a new level with his aggressive captaincy and nurturing young talents. But at times his arrogance on the field also took him to a new level and involved him into many controversies. The other inspiration was the way he captained India to reach the 2003 WC final was truly a captains punch. He played his cards properly and when the whole of india felt that we are out and lost during the WC, he brought the team back to winning ways through this aggressive captaincy. His off drives are mind blowing and from Boycott's dictionary "The Prince of Kolkuta...". The whole of India loved it, Bengal loved it too..

But big people say "All new journeys start with the single step" and i think this is the first single step towards the new journey. The new journey am talking about is how the Fab four will slowly start fading away from the eyes of cricket. The will for sure remain in our memories leaving behind their extraordinary years of cricket. But slowly its time is ticking away. We wont be anymore having the "Fab Four" on the field again..

To me personally he has been an inspirational captain and one of best opening batsmen in ODI's alongside pairing with Sachin, but otherwise his cricketing career has seen a low during the test match series in Zimbabwe. This being the first time under his captaincy that India is losing against Zimbabwe. He was involved in lots of on field and dressing room controversies, especially the on with Greg Chapell.

But to always end on a winning note he as been a splendid, aggressive cricketer. And we whole of India will remember you as One of the best and successful captains to have captained India and the records says it all.