The Off-Side God

The upcoming test series against Australia would mark the end of the career of India's most successful captain, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. Sourav Ganguly, the man who along with John Wright transformed the face of Indian cricket; the man whose cover drives could find the fence even with a 7-2 field; the man who along with Sachin Tendulkar formed one of the most potent opening partnerships that the world of cricket has ever witnessed.

After a forgettable ODI debut on the tour of 1992 in Australia, Ganguly spent the next four years in the wilderness till he was chosen for the Indian team to tour England in 1996. Ganguly made his Test debut at Lords and oh boy what a debut it was! After making an imperious century at Lords, he followed it up with an equally impressive one at Trent Bridge in the next test. Later that year, in an ODI at Jaipur against the Proteas, the world, for the first time, witnessed the greatest opening pair of all times in action. Both Sachin and Ganguly helped themselves to fifties as they put up first of their many several century plus stands.

The next couple of years saw Ganguly at his imperious best as bowlers all around the world watched in awe as Ganguly threaded the off side field with nonchalance and deported spinning deliveries over the bowlers' heads and into the stands. However more than Ganguly the batsman, its Ganguly the captain that the fans would cherish. In Ganguly, India was lucky to have a captain who wasn't afraid, who had the self-belief to go out there and beat any and everyone in the world. Most importantly he was a captain who galvanized a number of talented individuals into a competitive outfit.

Ganguly was passionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. Though it would be feats like stopping Steve Waugh's juggernaut in 2001 and leading India to the World Cup final a couple of years down the line that would define his career. It were small things like making Waugh wait for a toss and waving his tee shirt at the Lord's balcony that endeared him to his fans.

Ganguly came from Bengal, and was made captain in times when Indian cricket was dominated by the troika of Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka. The fact that today a young lad from Ranchi is leading the Indian one day side wouldn't have been possible had the Ganguly era not unfolded. Under his captaincy Indians became better travelers. He backed the youngsters in his team to the hilt. Harbhajan, Yuvraj and many others owe their positions in the Indian team to their then charismatic captain, Sourav Ganguly. He ushered in what could rightly be called the Golden Age of Indian cricket.

Ganguly was perhaps at the nadir of his career when Greg Chappell was India's coach. Ganguly wouldn't have imagined in the wildest of his dreams the impact that his decision to support Chappell against the wish of his teammates would have on his career. The last year of his captaincy was marked with batting failures and more batting failures. Captaincy was wrested from him and in no time he found himself out of the Indian team. But Ganguly was a determined man, determined to win his place back, determined to prove that he still deserved a place in the team he had so patiently built.

The determination was for all to see when Ganguly made his comeback in South Africa. He was composed against England, and when South Africa and Pakistan visited India, he was once again at his imperious best. He notched up his maiden hundred at the Eden Gardens and followed it up with a magnificent double hundred.

After an indifferent summer in Australia and a forgettable failure in Sri Lanka earlier this year, doubts began to surface again. His ODI career had been brought to an end in Australia and there was a question mark if Ganguly still had the hunger to go on. It's ironical that the last chapter in the Ganguly saga would perhaps be written at Nagpur, where he drove the first nail in the coffin of his captaincy by withdrawing from the Test against Australia. He has one last chance to do what he does best, getting under the Australians' skin. But no matter what happens in the series, his legacy would remain intact.

Good Bye Dada...