Sourav Ganguly – End of an Era November 10, 2008

Hi Folks…

This is a Tribute to Sourav Ganguly

I love cricket… I grew up during the era of Sachin and Ganguly… Everytime they went out to bat, my throuts were filled with chillness and I knew that I was going to experience a new adventure… Today, The best opener, God of Offside, Bengal Tiger, Prince of Kolkata, dada ends his International cricket career… My eyes are not wet… But my heart is bumping fast, saying that our next generation is gonna miss the thrill we experienced…

I want to dedicate this post for my hero… ( Most of the details below are collected from Internet and by watching live telecast of his last day cricket… But I think it’s a privilege as well as honour to put those details in my blog… )

Last day speech:

i: Indian Cricket

During the phase from 2000 to 2005 [when he was captain], and it’s still going on now, Indian cricket’s image has gone up immensely, especially while touring, We were always termed as soft when we travelled. I think that has changed considerably. At the present moment India are a formidable side home and away.

ii: Team Mates

I was lucky to have Sachin, Rahul, VVS Laxman, Anil, Sehwag and Harbhajan probably playing their best cricket at that stage. We’ve always been a strong team at home. The overseas results I’ll always cherish.

iii: Captaincy

Captaincy is a spark, it’s not just preparation or the homework, it’s about the spark on the field, which Dhoni has. He’s got that extra bit of luck which you require in captaincy. I have never believed too much in the drawing board. I see a lot of that in Dhoni. He doesn’t believe much in team meetings and all. He just does what he sees on the field. He will be tested when India goes overseas and I’m sure he will live up to it.

( 8 years ago “exactly” on this day (10^th November 2000) ganguly had made his debut as the captain of india …. and dhoni again let ganguly as a captain for 5 overs ( 45^th to 49^th ) today… fabulous spirit of cricket… you know wat? In that first test as captain dada scored 84 off 153 and DNB ( 0 )… Last test… dada scored 85 off 153 and 0… WOW… )

iv: Last day captaincy

I didn’t expect MS to ask me to captain the side for five overs. I was already switched off, so he woke me up. I didn’t know what was happening the first six seven balls. Luckily they were nine down so I managed to do it for three and then said it’s his job, not mine any more.

v: Last Series ( Border-Gavaskar trophy )

We’ve beaten the best team in the world 2-0. I’ve played well, the team’s played well ( 324 runs with avg 54 ). There were lot of doubts after we came back from Sri Lanka. The way this Test match finished … it’s probably one of the best finishes I’ve seen in terms of a team performance. I want to cherish this for a long period. I could easily sacrifice ten to 12 Tests for this.

vi: Last disappointment

I was disappointed with the 85 I got. I was so close to getting a hundred. That was more disappointing than the first-ball duck.

vii: Last words

This is my time to leave.

 

 

Ganguly Moments:

Sourav Ganguly made his ODI debut against West Indies in Brisbane in 1992, scoring just 3, after which he was dropped. He played his second ODI more than four years later, against England at Lord’s, where he was out stumped for 46.

But he announced his presence on the international stage with a century on Test debut at Lord’s in June 1996. He followed it up with another in the next Test at Trent Bridge, where he made 136.

Ganguly became an integral part of India’s one-day side, making his mark with both bat and ball. He had a dream series against Pakistan in Toronto in 1997, where he took 15 wickets at an average of 10.66, and scored 222 runs at 55.50, to win four Man-of-the-Match awards in five games. India won the series 4-1.

He was in tremendous form in the drawn three-match home series against Sri Lanka in 1997, scoring 392 runs at an average of 98.00, including 109 in Mohali and 173 in Mumbai.

The 1999 World Cup saw him and Rahul Dravid excel and form the backbone of India’s batting line-up with Sachin Tendulkar. Ganguly was the third-highest run-getter in the tournament, with 379 in seven matches, including a sensational 183 in a must-win game against Sri Lanka at Taunton. He and Dravid, who made 145, added 318 for the second wicket, a record at the time.

He is made an interim captain of the one-day side following an injury to Sachin Tendulkar, and impresses immediately, leading India to a 2-1 series win against West Indies in Toronto in 1997.

A county stint with Lancashire follows, as Ganguly is signed up as a replacement for Muttiah Muralitharan in February 2000.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the match-fixing controversy, and Tendulkar’s resignation from captaincy following India’s Test series defeat to South Africa at home, their first in many years, Ganguly is appointed captain for the five-match ODI series against the same opposition.

He top-scores for India in the series, and leads his team to a hard fought 3-2 victory. Ganguly takes over as full-time captain immediately after.

Indian cricket enters a new era with the appointment of John Wright as coach, the first foreigner to hold that position for India on a full-time basis. Ganguly and Wright lead India in a fascinating phase of the country’s cricketing history, with the former coming into his own as captain.

Ganguly’s leadership skills came to the fore when he led India to a dramatic 2-1 series win over Australia, after being down 1-0 in the series. Harbhajan Singh was his trump-card, taking 32 wickets in three Tests, including 13 in Kolkata, where India, after following on, came back to beat Australia by 171 runs on the final day. India’s win ended Australia’s 16-match winning streak and marked the beginning of an enthralling rivalry with the world champions.

India won a nail-biter in the third Test in Chennai by two wickets, and found new heroes in VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh, who became permanent fixtures in their rejuvenated Test team.

One of Ganguly’s more determined innings came in Kandy in August 2001, when he oversaw a dicey pitch and the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan to score an unbeaten 98 to take India to a seven-wicket win. India, however, lost that series 2-1. Earlier, Ganguly had led India to their first Test win outside the sub-continent, against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo the same year. But India lost the second Test and the series was level.

In one of his greatest moments as India’s one-day captain, Ganguly led his team to a win in the Natwest triangular ODI series in England in 2002. India had lost nine ODI finals under his leadership, and looked to be well on their way to a tenth defeat, as they were reduced to 146-5 in the final against England in pursuit of 325. However, the younger members of the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, who flourished under Ganguly’s captaincy, took India home with two wickets to spare. 

Ganguly’s celebration on the Lord’s balcony after the win was quite a spectacle.

Soon after the Natwest series triumph, India lost the first Test at Lord’s. But they came back strongly in the third Test at Headingley, with Ganguly scoring a century, as India won their first Test in England since 1986. The series was drawn 1-1.

Ganguly led India to the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002, but with rain playing spoilsport, India and Sri Lanka were declared joint-winners.

A tumultuous tour of New Zealand followed, where India were trounced 2-0 in the Tests and 5-2 in the ODI series. It was one of Ganguly’s most disappointing assignments as captain.

He ensured a reversal of fortunes in the 2003 World Cup, leading India into the final. The highlight of India’s impressive performance was their win against Pakistan in Centurion by six wickets.

But Ganguly faltered in the final, opting to bowl first. Australia piled up a mammoth 359 and India lost by 125 runs.

Another successful phase followed. India toured Australia in 2003-04 and Ganguly set the tone for the Test series, scoring 144 in the first Test at Brisbane, and then leading his team its first Test win in Australia since 1981, beating the hosts by six wickets in Adelaide.

Australia drew level in Melbourne, and both teams fought a draw in Sydney, as Ganguly’s troops retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Steve Waugh’s farewell series.

Following a thaw in relations between the two neighbours, India embarked on a full tour of Pakistan for the first time since 1989. In a riveting five-match ODI series, Ganguly led his side to a 3-2 win. India then claimed their first Test series victory overseas in more than a decade when, in 2004, they beat Pakistan by an innings and 131 runs in the third Test in Rawalpindi to clinch the series 2-1. Though he missed the first two Tests due to injury, Ganguly scored 77 as India amassed 600 to set up the victory.

Ganguly’s late withdrawal from the third Test in the home series against Australia in late 2004, which the tourists won to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series, indicated that all was not well. He had scored 45 and 5 in the first Test in Bangalore and 9 in the drawn second Test in Chennai

Beating South Africa 1-0 at home in the Test series later that year was a consolation, but things soon took a turn for the worse for Ganguly.

India squandered a 1-0 lead against Pakistan at home in 2005, in John Wright’s last series as coach, losing in the third Test in Bangalore by 168 runs. Ganguly fared poorly in the series, scoring just 48 runs at an average of 9.60

India lost the subsequent ODI series 4-2, after being 2-0 up, as Ganguly’s slump continued, with just 31 runs at an average of 7.75.

Controversy reigned after Greg Chappell took over as India’s coach as his relationship with Ganguly was far from ideal. In India’s tour of Zimbabwe, Ganguly laboured to a 262-ball century, his first in nearly two years, in the first Test at Bulawayo. But immediately after his knock, Ganguly told reporters that Chappell had suggested he give up the captaincy to concentrate on his batting. The triangular ODI series that followed was Ganguly’s last for more than a year.

The uneasy relationship became public knowledge when a mail sent by Chappell to the Indian board was leaked. In it, Chappell is said to have deemed Ganguly as being physically and mentally unfit to be in the team. The Indian board brokered peace between the two after a closed door meeting, but Ganguly’s place in the side was looking in danger.

Chappell looked to have been vindicated when the Indian selectors decided to give Rahul Dravid the Test captaincy for the home series against Sri Lanka in 2005. This came after Dravid, captaining in place of the injured Ganguly, led India to a 6-1 thrashing of Sri Lanka in the ODI series. Ganguly’s dethronement did not go down well with his fans who burnt effigies of Chappell, calling for his dismissal. Ganguly, however, finished as India’s most successful Test captain, leading his side to 21 wins in 49 games. In ODIs, he was second only to Mohammad Azharuddin, winning 76 out of 146 matches.

Ganguly returned to the Test team, but after scores of 4 [in Chennai] and 40 and 39 [in Delhi], he was dropped from the third Test in favour of the younger Yuvraj Singh. The last Test before Ganguly’s 10-month absence from the game came in Karachi. He was dogged, but with scores of 34 and 37, and competition for slots, he was once again dropped.

He returned to the domestic fold, impressing with consistent performances, and also played county cricket, representing Northamptonshire.

A recall became imminent after he regained his touch in the domestic circuit. He made his return in India’s Test series in South Africa, and shone immediately, making 51 in India’s first Test win in the country. He was India’s leading run-getter in the series, scoring 214 at an average of 42.80. However, India lost the series 2-1 after the home team bounced back in the next two Tests.

His return to the one-day side was just as impressive. He made 98 against West Indies in Nagpur in January 2007, and was Man of the Series in India’s subsequent win against Sri Lanka, top-scoring with 168 runs in four matches.

Ganguly scored his first century after his return to Test cricket, against Bangladesh in Chittagong. He was then instrumental in India’s first Test series win in England, scoring an important 79 in their victory at Nottingham, and ending the series as India’s second-highest run-getter, with 249 at 49.80.

Shahid Afridi was Ganguly’s 100th ODI wicket. This match in Gwalior in November 2007 was, incidentally, Ganguly’s last. He ended his ODI career with 11,363 runs, currently fourth on the all-time list, and 22 centuries.

His swansong continued, with his first Test century in his beloved Eden Gardens in Kolkata, against Pakistan, and a career-best 239 in the same series in Bangalore. India won the series 1-0. He also scored his 1000th run of the year, to join Jacques Kallis as the only batsmen to do so in 2007.

He played his 100th Test at the MCG, and then played one more match-winning knock against South Africa in Kanpur, making 87, to help India level the series.

But a failure in Sri Lanka followed, as India lost the series 2-1, and Ganguly was subsequently dropped for the Irani Cup. However, he was selected for India’s home series against Australia. In a surprise announcement ahead of the series, Ganguly said the series would be his last and that he would retire from international cricket.

He added one more century to his tally, scoring 116 in Mohali in India’s massive 328-run win.

But in his last Test innings in Nagpur, Ganguly was dismissed for a duck off his first ball, joining the likes of Don Bradman who suffered a similar fate in his final appearance.

Sourav Ganguly waves as he leads the team out on his final day of Test cricket, India v Australia, 4th Test, Nagpur, 5th day, November 10, 2008

He is carried off the field by team-mates when his last match came to an end. One last ride around his 15 years life ( cricket ground ), and a final Good-Bye.

Sadness is a part of Pride…

Sourav’s daughter holds up his Poster throughout the last match…

 

Hats off to a Great Career…

 

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