Dada out, when the others would go?

Sourav Ganguly, former India Captain has today announced his retirement from International Cricket after the end of the 4 match series against Australia. I welcome the decision as a true cricket lover and a great fan of Sourav Ganguly. In my opinion, Sourav Ganguly was the Captain who brought in the urge to win in the Indian Cricket team's mindset. He was very aggressive on and off the field which gave all the team members the needed confidence to take the mighty opposition. Who can forget the "Salman" style dance from the balcony of the famous Lords cricket ground.

I still remember the day when Sourav Ganguly made his one-day international in Australia as a 19 year old boy. He was extremely good looking then. He played only one ODI in Australia and sidelined for the rest of the series and got dropped from the team after that series. Then he made a comeback to the Indian Cricket team and the rest as we all know is history. He had his days when he would go after the bowlers and belt them all over the ground. His cover-drives are exquisite added with the additional charm of left-hand batting. But till the end he remained susceptible to short pitched deliveries. He has been a very useful slow medium bowler in seaming conditions and has bagged number of crucial wickets. He has one of the best records of an Indian Test Captain.

The last 2-3 years have been very bad for him professionally. He got dropped from the Indian team and has to really fight hard to retain his place. I would say he has been unfairly treated by the selection committee compared to his peers like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. But Dada is Dada, he took everything on his chin, and bravely fought back.

There was lot of reports in the print media about the secret agreement signed by Sourav Ganguly with the new Selection Committee led by Kris Srikkanth. That has been proved right today with Sourav Ganguly announcing his retirement after the end of the Australia series. After all these years of struggle for the country, I agree these senior cricketers need an honourable exit, which Sourav has rightly taken now. I look forward to this series with Sourav Ganguly playing without any pressure of retaining his place.

I wish Sourav Ganguly, our revered "Dada" of Indian Cricket a successful series against Australia and a happy retirement.

PS:
Our current generation cricketers are so smart that they would have signed an agreement with some television channel for commentating before they decide to hang their boots. So we will not miss Sourav Ganguly, as we may soon see him talking about how to handle Brett Lee's short pitched deliveries or how to play a cover-drive with bat and pad close together!!! Let Indian Cricket Live Long!!!