I was passionate for Cricket since my childhood and loved to play as well watch the game more so when the Indian Cricket team played. The English summer of 1996 and I had the privilege to watch two of the greatest Indian batsmen of all time making their debut at the same test match. Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly.
Both went on to become idols for the lakhs of supporters around the country. On one hand Rahul became an epitome of solid technical batting in Test matches and on the other Saurav took Indian cricket to another level with his charisma, flamboyance and fighting spirit. I was so happy to be able to live in this era of Sachin,Saurav &Rahul.
Things got even more sweeter when Dada was handed the Captaincy.
Do we remember the critical time when he took over? Some of the fancied Saurav bashers might not remember but it was the time when Cricket was going through the turmoil of Match Fixing. I would not like to talk about what he achieved as Captain as we all know that and probably all of us will salute him for that. I would rather like to talk about the reason why I as an individual started getting irritated with Indian Cricket and it went to a point where i even stopped watching them play.
The chapel era combined with Pawar coming to Power at BCCI made me upset. This was the beginning of the end of Saurav Ganguly. Many people squarely blame Greg Chappell for what he did to our Dada but I would like to believe that what he wanted to bring in to Indian cricket was a shift in attitude. He wanted to tell the selectors that look you got to shift out the elders and bring fresh blood. The politics of Shard Pawar came at this point when he and the rest of BCCI started treating this judgement of Greg only against Saurav. So thanks to BCCI Sachin,Rahul were treated on a different level compared to Saurav.
The exclusion of Saurav from the rest of India side is the final signal in his career. As a player I am sure he is not at all perturbed with the development. At 35 he has become an elder statement of this game and an inspiration for many from all walks of life. Dada fought back once before to prove it to the world that he still had the zeal to play cricket at the highest level. That comeback was completed when he got the award of Ceat Asian Cricketer of the year award.
Saurav Ganguly gave the Australians a run for their money,gave them back their own chin music. He changed the way Indian cricketers think and brought on this amazing believe that we can compete and beat teams like Australia at their own backyard. As an avid viewer of numerous India’s matches over the years I am delighted to see one of the great sons of Indian cricket.
Good luck Dada!
Both went on to become idols for the lakhs of supporters around the country. On one hand Rahul became an epitome of solid technical batting in Test matches and on the other Saurav took Indian cricket to another level with his charisma, flamboyance and fighting spirit. I was so happy to be able to live in this era of Sachin,Saurav &Rahul.
Things got even more sweeter when Dada was handed the Captaincy.
Do we remember the critical time when he took over? Some of the fancied Saurav bashers might not remember but it was the time when Cricket was going through the turmoil of Match Fixing. I would not like to talk about what he achieved as Captain as we all know that and probably all of us will salute him for that. I would rather like to talk about the reason why I as an individual started getting irritated with Indian Cricket and it went to a point where i even stopped watching them play.
The chapel era combined with Pawar coming to Power at BCCI made me upset. This was the beginning of the end of Saurav Ganguly. Many people squarely blame Greg Chappell for what he did to our Dada but I would like to believe that what he wanted to bring in to Indian cricket was a shift in attitude. He wanted to tell the selectors that look you got to shift out the elders and bring fresh blood. The politics of Shard Pawar came at this point when he and the rest of BCCI started treating this judgement of Greg only against Saurav. So thanks to BCCI Sachin,Rahul were treated on a different level compared to Saurav.
The exclusion of Saurav from the rest of India side is the final signal in his career. As a player I am sure he is not at all perturbed with the development. At 35 he has become an elder statement of this game and an inspiration for many from all walks of life. Dada fought back once before to prove it to the world that he still had the zeal to play cricket at the highest level. That comeback was completed when he got the award of Ceat Asian Cricketer of the year award.
Saurav Ganguly gave the Australians a run for their money,gave them back their own chin music. He changed the way Indian cricketers think and brought on this amazing believe that we can compete and beat teams like Australia at their own backyard. As an avid viewer of numerous India’s matches over the years I am delighted to see one of the great sons of Indian cricket.
Good luck Dada!
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