Sourav Chandidas Ganguly : Indian Victory

Dada walked off the field at Nagpur today with his head held high after India's comprehensive victory against Australia. It is so appropriate that Dada decided to call curtains after this Aussie tour and more fitting so because of the victory. Sourav will be ever remembered by how challenging he was as a captain and how shrewd he was - all owing to India's historic wins against the toughest opponent by far - the Australia of Steve Waugh.

If not for Sourav The Brave, our cricket would have been still looking for reasons to explain why it failed overseas.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have learnt how to face up to intimidation and return the favour.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would still be groping in darkness of politics.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have know how to charge ahead fearlessly.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have known what strength of leadership is.
If not for Sourav the Brave, Indian cricket would not have become the formidable force that it is now.

Dada's greatest contribution as every one will agree, is as a captain of Indian cricket team. Azhar got gobbled in match fixing controversy, Tendulkar in spite being individually great wasn't able to handle the pressure. Then came along Sourav. Dada not only led the team without showing pressure, he lead the team in to frontiers never before explored by Indian cricket & the team won where they never have done so before.

Indian cricket has seen many brave and valiant cricketer's, Sunil Gavaskar's bravery in facing West Indian pace attack was great. Kapil Dev's exploits at 1983 world cup were a legend in themselves. Dada is different from them - Dada not only did great things, but the team under him did great things. Yes, he had a great team in Sachin, Anil, Laxman, Dravid and Bajji, but it is very true to say that without Sourav's captaincy, we could have seen great feat's, not great victories.

Sourav's magical batting almost fades away before his captaincy. Who of us can recall who the King of the Offside is? What divine timing? What effortless execution? What astonishing placement? He is the fourth highest run getter in history of Indian cricket.

Still Sourav will live on in Indian cricket memory as the greatest of captains ever to lead Indian cricket team. That is what he has contributed to Indian cricket. Many of the current star's can recall proudly that it was Sourav who backed them in earlier stages of their careers. Sourav showed the world that Indian's are not minnows, importantly still, Sourav showed it to Indian's themselves.It is almost unnecessary to state the win-loss stat's of Sourav as a captain, the impact of his captaincy resonates after he was stripped of it and will keep resonating long after his retirement.

Still, its a pleasure to look at the numbers -49-21-13-15 (captained-won-lost-draw) for his test captaincy. Exceeding all other Indian captains by far, Sourav's numbers reflect his mettle as a captain.

Anil retired and I will recall his great feats whenever another leggie does something magical for India. Sourav retired and I will remember him every time India wins - especially overseas.

That's what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly means to me : an Indian Victory.

Welcome Captain :)

I like MS Dhoni. He brings Indian cricket from the level of demigods to the level I can identify with. Dhoni's presence on field, even in tight situations doesn't make any happening look surreal. There I see a ever calm cricketer who gives his 100% and goes about this "day at office" in a efficient manner.

I have been fortunate to follow Indian cricket at a stage where the fab-4 and Anil Kumble played; all five are very unassuming cricketers. MS Dhoni might not be as gifted as the fab-4, but he has something which they don't, he treats cricket as what it truly is, a game. He doesn't get carried away when situation is tense. This shows me that while he is satisfied at a job well done and that he is immensely happy, he doesn't show that he has done anything extraordinary.

I am pretty sure that if Dhoni were to hop and jump about, he would have even greater fan following than he currently has (if that were possible). The reason for this is, simply put we Indians are hero worshippers. We need hero's to get us out of the mundane and let us dream. Our gods, our politicians (meant freedom fighters), our sportsmen are all hero's. I too am one of them, I too am a hero worshipper; but sometimes it becomes too much. Look at other nations, look at Australian cricket for example, don't they have great achievers like our cricket? Still although Shane Warne is appreciated immensely, he is not hero worshipped. Nor would a fan of Ponting and a fan of Gilchrist come to blows to prove who is better.

Therein for me lies the charm of Dhoni, he is so unassuming that I don't feel the need to hero worship him, in fact it helps me to identify with him. It also keeps me level headed and makes me think about the sweat and struggle behind him reaching where he is. It makes me feel that Dhoni was a commoner, a person like me and he got to where he is, so what got him there? This is a question I have rarely put to myself in regards to any other Indian cricketer, in my lack of thoughts about their initial struggles (although I know them through media), I, very Indian like assume that they got where they are because they are who they are. And this 'who' is not what I feel was once a commoner like me. It's not to their fault that I feel this way, it my hero worshipping nature, just accepting greatness and never questioning how it came about. But because I can identify with Dhoni, I question myself as to how Dhoni got where he got to - this question opens a positive aspect of my watching cricket, it leads way to thoughts and actions that are constructive; it also lets me understand when Dhoni fails and it teaches me things when he bounces back.

I don't think Dhoni is 'professional' as professional is; he is a emotional cricketer, but by maintaining his calm demeanor he has brought Indian cricket and cricketer's from the sky high reaches of unreachable greatness to thoughts and actions about becoming personally successful.

With these thoughts, I would like to welcome MS Dhoni as India's new test captain. May he and India team achieve many milestones in years to come and I, as ever will be a eager watcher, albeit less dewy eyed and more thoughtful. Welcome Captain :)