THE LAST DANCE

WHILE GRACE and timing were the hallmark of Sourav Ganguly’s cricket, I'm unsure if his decision to ride into the sunset was true to those qualities.

The boy from Behala who galvanised the Indian team at the start of the new millennium announced in a very off-handed manner in Bangalore yesterday that the four-Test series against the visiting Australians will be his last in international cricket.

It wasn’t befitting a man who never went down without a battle. Probably, at 36, there’s no fight left in his stomach after having to prove his credentials to those who run Indian cricket over and over again. Or perhaps the fuel indicator is just hovering over the E mark and there’s just enough in the tank to take on the Australians before he puts his feet up.

“Before I leave, I have to make an announcement,” said Ganguly as a postscript to the pre-match press conference. “This is going to be my last series. I have decided to quit. These four Tests are going to be my last.” he said betraying his emotions.

“I have spoken to my team-mates that these four Tests would be my last matches. Thanks for all the support, hopefully I will go out on a winning note.”

Those in the know say that the BCCI was all set to bring down the curtain on Ganguly’s career after the second Test at Mohali. But the former skipper bargained hard for the entire series.

MORE PRESSURE


BY MAKING the decision public he may have only added more pressure on himself to bow out on a high and if the scene gets awry for India against Ricky Ponting’s men, the BCCI may not wait till Nagpur, which ironically was Ganguly’s Waterloo as the captain of Team India in 2004.

We pray this is not the case but we’re unsure who writes Ganguly’s script. Mere words will not do justice to a career that was as heroic as it was tragic.

For a teenager who reportedly dragged his feet to ferry drinks during his maiden tour of Australia in 1992, Ganguly emerged four years later to score a sublime hundred on debut at Lord’s amidst a smearing campaign that he was in the team courtesy Jagmohan Dalmiya.

This wasn’t going to be his only comeback as we all know it too well.

As his career progressed, Indian cricket regressed under Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar’s leadership. The Board finally offered captaincy to Ganguly in 2000.

It was a difficult time. Tendulkar had stepped down as the captain and the match-fixing scourge was about to raise its ugly head. With Kapil Dev at helm as the coach, it was a coronation under fire for the Prince of Kolkata. Six months into his term, the winds of change started to blow and a young unassuming Ganguly-led squad, much like the one that won the Twenty20 Championship in South Africa last year, reached the final of the mini World Cup in Nairobi.

Ganguly went on to add steely resolve to the group and the Indian team started to win Test matches and one-day games abroad frequently. In John Wright, he had a perfect coach to complement him although the relations wasn’t exactly hunky-dory.

Ganguly’s slide started in 2004 following his withdrawal from the Nagpur Test citing a hamstring injury. That he had a showdown with Shashank Manohar, the current BCCI president, over the nature of the pitch was no secret and that is when he lost a few friends in the team.

The arrival of Greg Chappell and his subsequent spat with the Australian for whom he had batted, added a bitter and painful twist to his career. He was banished to wilderness.

‘GANGULY’S DECISION WON’T AFFECT KKR’

While Sourav Ganguly has announced his retirement from cricket, his Indian Premier League (IPL) team — Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) — don’t believe they need to worry too much about his participation in the second edition of the BCCI-backed tournament at the moment.

“There is no reason why it should (affect Ganguly’s IPL commitments),” KKR’s team director Joy Bhattacharya told Mumbai Mirror yesterday. “The only thing is that he will have to find a way to stay fit. If you are not playing cricket, it’s difficult to motivate yourself to stay fit. But I think he is professional enough to manage that.”

Bhattacharya also said that Ganguly had not spoken to team owner Shah Rukh Khan or him regarding his IPL participation or commitments. “At the moment, I think we just have to give him some space at this time.” The fighter in him saw him staging a dream comeback facilitated by Dilip Vengsarkar taking over the selection committee in 2006. Ganguly batted with gusto to score heavily in both form of the games and in every possible condition on offer.

POOR SERIES

A POOR series against Sri Lanka, primarily because of inappropriate preparation and fitness, once again brought his career on the brink. But with another change in the selection committee and yet another lifeline thrown at him, Ganguly was back but with murmurs that he had struck a deal with the BCCI for a ‘dignified’ farewell.

A match-winning hundred followed by the announcement to quit would have been more apt for the man who along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman changed the face of Indian cricket for good.