A tribute to 'Dada'

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A tribute to 'Dada'

Sourav Ganguly was given the mantle of captaincy at a time when Indian cricket was an enigma. He taught and inspired his team mates to win and to conquer the world of cricket. Under his reign Indian cricket team excelled to new heights

CJ: sreejith kumar

Mon, Nov 17, 2008 18:41:32 IST

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THERE ARE many cricketers whom we remember from yesteryears for their achievements with the bat, ball or on the field. Examples include Don Bradman, Kapil Dev, Sir Gary Sobers and the like. But there are a selected few whom we remember, for their achievements not just on the field, but also for their initiative to revolutionise the game that they played and spurred on their fellow men to win.

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is one of those men. He was given the mantle of captaincy at a time when Indian cricket was an enigma. They were branded lions at home, and lambs abroad. He was a man determined to change that very brand that Indian cricket had obtained. More importantly, he was a man who wanted to win.

He was the man who taught and inspired his team mates to win. The start for him as a captain was slow, but he rose to the challenge each day. It was a time when India as a team submitted to the opposition in foreign conditions tamely. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar could not handle captaincy and foreign defeats were heavy.

And in the end, the results spoke for themselves. India performed admirably against West Indies where they won a series away from home, they drew against England in the NatWest series and against Australia in Australia in 2004.

Who can forget that historic NatWest one day international series win against England where Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh pulled off a stunning victory and his subsequent reaction after that? The removal of his shirt showed the world the passion and the hunger he had for victory. He quoted in an interview after that series, “If Andrew Filntoff can do it in Mumbai, I felt I can do it at Lords.”

The venue or the occasion did not matter for Dada. India also shared the ICC Champions trophy with Sri Lanka and also reached the final of the ICC World cup in 2003. All these feats happened under his reign.

He groomed the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif and the list goes on. Even when he suffered a slump of form after the 2003 world cup, he fought with everything he had to get back into the Indian Test side. He performed consistently because the determination and the fight in him only got stronger after his failure.

To summarise, this is not a list of achievements of Dada, this is just a tribute to a man who taught India to win at all costs, under any conditions and at any point of time. He taught the team to roar like a tiger when cornered than to surrender like a lamb. Hats off to you Dada!

“Six Sticks, a club and a sphere make up the game
His presence brought into it a burning flame
The flame of passion to win, and to great heights excel
In the great successes to revel

When we were down he taught us like a tiger, to roar
Rather than succumb meekly and be devoured
However much the hopes were thin
He taught us the mantra –‘At all costs we should win’…”

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Posted comments (3)

	HI what is this ?
	Dr : Raj Kumar \| 19 March 2009 Reply to Comment \| New Comment \| Report Abuse

	This presentation is inspirational to any one and the one who reads this would like to change things around.. you have the creativity to anticipate and see the situation.At last all i can say is "strategic personality explained at his best"..
	HARISH SIDDARAMEGOW DA \| 12 December 2008 Reply to Comment \| New Comment \| Report Abuse

	Very good presentation for a starter like Sreejithkumar.Kudos to Ganguly and you Sreejith!
	NARAYANAN. P B \| 30 November 2008 Reply to Comment \| New Comment \| Report Abuse