When the off-side God cribs

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My dear Saurav

I am not a Bengali so I don't keep a fast for you when you take guard on the cricket pitch. Nor do I follow you whenever you step out of your palatial bungalow in Behala.

I don't go to your restaurant in Kolkata which is one of the most famous destinations for most bongs in Bangla land. But like millions of cricket lovers in this country, I follow every stroke you play, every time you danced down the track to pulverize a hapless leg spinner, every time you played that magical cover drive on the off side, the sight of which was as beautiful as Lord Byron's poetry.

So on this Maha Ashtami day, when you have decided to quit your international career, here is an ode from me on behalf of the entire cricket loving community of India.

You gave us what no other skipper or cricket player had managed to provide to us. That sense of confidence, we too could look at a 6-4 inch fast bowler in the eye, we too could win on foreign wickets, we were no lions at home but cubs abroad. We will never forget the English Summer of 1996 when you and your great friend Rahul Dravid were making a long lasting impression on the cricketing map.

I still remember a comment which was made by Sir Geoffrey Boycott just before the beginning of the test series. It was one of the warm up games, and no one knew whether you had been selected as a batsman or a bowler. While you were bowling, Boycott said, " This lad is so gentle in his pace that even my mum in law can hammer him out of the park. "

The very next delivery, you had prized out a wicket. You were made to bat at number 7 or 8 even in that same practice match. So it was indeed a pleasant surprise to see you score that magnificent hundred making your debut at Lords.

We will remember you for the sheer joy of seeing the Aussies squirm when Steve Waugh's all conquering unit had arrived in India for the 2001 series. They called it the final frontier, the Sachin Assault on their tour of 1998 was still fresh on their minds, you gave the Aussies as much as they gave you.

Steve Waugh had been engaged in a mental war even before a single delivery had been bowled because you made him wait for the toss. That series will be remembered for VVS Laxman's 281 at your home ground the , Eden park, but it will also be remembered for the kind of gamesmanship that you displayed so far not seen in India.

You showed that there was nothing wrong in an Indian expressing emotion on the cricket field. You may not have had the pace or the physique of a Shoaib Akhtar, but your attitude was as aggressive as him. Little wonder, that Shoaib described you as the best skipper that he had ever played under during the IPL tournament. Pakistan was a team that you had decided to dominate.

You helped us erase the memories of Javed Miandad hitting that last ball six of Chetan Sharma by your own belligerent brand of batting. I can recall your innings from Toronto during the Sahara Friendship cup, to Karachi to the Wankhade! That was the time when Pakistan had a formidable bowling attack, Wasim Waqar followed by Aaquib Javed and Mushtaq and Saqlain bowling leg spin and off spin in tandem. You showed what you were really made of.

It was under your scrutiny that the fulcrum of India's next generation of cricketers was discovered. Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag all highly talented players who were groomed well because of your own damn care attitude towards the red tapism so part and parcel of Indian cricket. You took your shirt off at the balcony at Lords when Yuvraj Singh and Mohd Kaif won the tri series final against England. Our chest got a few cms broader that day. An Indian skipper had made Lords look like the feroz Shah Kotla.

We will also remember you for helping us in erasing the controversial match fixing scandal. You had taken over the reins of the Indian team when mistrust was lurking around everyone. Every false move was being construed as one under the influence of bookies. You showed that India had the cricketers who were not only tough physically but mentally as well. You missed the Nagpur test against the Aussies in their last journey here ostensibly because you were scared of facing Mcgrath on a fast bouncy green top.

Papers stated that you had begged Shashank Manohar, a top official of the Vidarbha cricket association to chop out the grass but he didn't. You were charged of creating a fear psychosis in the team by telling everyone that the wicket was unplayble. Famous batsmen infamous coach Greg Chappel accused you of playing for your own vested interests, of looking after your financial interests at the cost of the team. You kept quiet, came back to the team in the tour to Australia and scored a brilliant ton there. You had always let your bat do the talking when the situation got too hot to handle.

You seem to have adopted the same cavalier approach towards your retirement as well. 24 hours after announcing your retirement, you are stating that you were hurt by being ignored for the Irani trophy game which was a precursor to the present Aussie tour. Are you then suggesting that you were in no mood to quit the game but are being forced to do so? If that is indeed the reality, then why did you chose to make this revelation literally on the eve of a series which will see the most formidable middle order ever seen coming together for the last time? You have a place of pride in our hearts, there is no need for you to tell us that you may have been wronged. We know you could have carried on maybe for two or three more series on the test match level. But we don't associate whining with you. We only look upto you for your aggression on the field. We don't care when gossip magazines say that you are having an affair with Actress Nagma just before the start of an important series.

We don't bother when the wags say that you have fallen out with Jagmohan Dalmiya and that is a problem for you. But we will ask you, if you felt saddened by the lack of support shown by your illustrious colleagues when you were going through a bad patch. When Chappel was charging you of spoiling the spirit of the dressing room, were you not surprised that not even the great Sachin Tendulkar refused to speak out?

I still remember an interview that was done by us with him, and he refused to show his video. He insisted that only his audio should be broadcast.

You kept mum then too. The point is that if through your playing career, you spent your off field time trying to dismiss all these conspiracy theories with the same elan that you would hit a six over long on, then why are you spoiling the after taste in our mouth now?

If you want to call people names, well do a frank interview with cnn ibn after having scored a hundred in your last match, which ironically will be played at the same venue which had become a stigma on your name. In Nagpur! I wonder how many people will now be looking at that 22 yard wicket as closely as they did when you didn't play the same team last time around

In the end, your initials are as famous if not more than the other man with the same initials. Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly. Both of you legends in your own right, we don't want to remember Gavaskar for refusing to captain the 1983 world cup winning squad, we dont want to remember Saurav Ganguly as someone who was wronged. We just want to remember you for your off side play. You are the god of off side, Gods don't crib.

May you have a peaceful retired life! May you set the Eden on fire with SRK during the IPL tournament! Thank you for providing us with so much entertainment on the field and off it.