Ganguly's exit signals end of India's golden era
Posted on Oct 08, 2008 at 09:35 | Updated Oct 08, 2008 at 12:50
0 Comments
How will we remember Sourav Ganguly? The God of the off-side, a captain beyond compare, or a man who lived by his own rules and made some new ones?
Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday decided to end his cricket career, a career that leaves us with memories that generations will cherish. We lived in a time when Ganguly made us gasp in admiration.
CNN-IBN celebrated the career of India's most successful captain along with Sharda Ugra, Deputy Editor, India Today, former India and Bengal player Deep Dasgupta, former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, and former India coach Lalchand Rajput.
Averaging more than 40 in both forms of the game, Ganguly is just 112 runs short of completing 7,000 runs in Test cricket.
Chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth earlier told CNN-IBN that the choice was left to him whether to call time on his career, after speculation over an alleged deal between the BCCI and senior players of an 'honourable exit'.
Sharda Ugra chose to go with the players' version, saying there was no such deal. "Sections of the Board are out to make themselves important, while the players insist there has been no such deal. The senior players will all say they have done it keeping the team's interest in mind. The senior players said that none of them were approached. It just depends on who you want to believe. I would obviously go with Sourav Ganguly."
In the press conference, Ganguly said he didn't expect to be picked for the Test series after being ignored for the Irani Trophy. Former India coach Lalchand Rajput believes that perhaps Ganguly started thinking about it after the Irani Trophy match.
"It was a bold decision. I know how hard it is to quit playing cricket after playing for so long. He made the decision at the right time because this is an important series. He knows that he won't have any pressure, so he can go out there and play freely and retire on a high. Perhaps he felt he was on the firing line all the time. And now that he has quit, let someone else be on the firing line," Rajput told CNN-IBN, adding that he didn't suspect any deal between the former India captain and the BCCI.
But was it the right time? Although the debacle in Sri Lanka would be clearly etched in mind, Ganguly's career graph since his comeback in December 2006 has been remarkable. He has averaged 45.05 since, more than his career stats.
"I guess it was a lot of pressure. It's also a good time because a lot of youngsters are doing well too. But as his recent stats show, he is quitting quite close to his peak," observed Ganguly's former team-mate Deep Dasgupta.
Farewells have often been scripted terribly in India and Pakistan. "This is why it's a bold decision. India are playing Australia at home. For a cricketer like Sourav Ganguly. He has seen a lot of hard times, but his comeback set has set a benchmark for youngsters all over the world. You keep trying till you succeed," said Moin Khan, Ganguly's long time adversary.
| Ads by Google |
Total Comments: 0
Read All Comments | Post Comment