* * * Saurav Ganguly - Tiger of Spirit * * *. Review on Saurav Ganguly

I am a fan of Golden Trio of Indian Cricket, i.e. Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid.  I believe it is time for me to give my thoughts on the second in the trio, none other than Saurav Ganguly.

"Ever since he made his debut in 1991-92, there has been a gun pointed at Ganguly's head,” Gavasker told, “Everybody has always presumed that he has got into the Indian team because of reasons other than cricket and he has to prove them wrong over and over again. So one is sympathetic with the way he is feeling.”

Yes, this Prince of Calcutta proved them wrong again and again.  From his debut till declaring his retirement from the test squad this spirit of India never folded his hands to the biased media and the kindles critics.     Opponents found a hard stone which broke their tooth several time.  They never wasted a time to target him and they manage to expel him from the Indian squad, but they could not spoil his spirit.   He made one of the memorable come backs in the history of Indian sports.

300 plus one day matches, with 11,000 plus one days runs, 100 plus test matches with 6,000 plus test runs under the belt, it is time to ask a question back to those who point the gun at his head.  If a person capable of producing such a career graph had to include other than cricket reason, what is the reason of cricket??    And how many other Ganguly's are outside, waiting for other than cricket reasons to get into the team??

I personally like Ganguly for his aggression and determination.   He will not succumb to blames and always keeps the hope. The team spirit he creates and confidence level he shows were quite impressive.  He was an uncompromising leader who fights for a cause and always encouraged the young talents.     I believe these qualities of Ganguly have taken away sleep of many and they are behind people who target him.

With Sachin Tendulkar, he formed the most daring opening pair in One day cricket and scored hundreds after hundreds.      Do we ever produce an explosive and dependable opening pair ever before or after??

Being one of the finest players of One Day Cricket, the stroke play he exercise is remarkable.   Six by Ganguly is always a joy to watch.  The King of Off side was accused of fearing bouncers a bit and that is true too to an extend.

Things went against him, from the point Ganguly supported Greg Chappell as coach of Indian team and upon assuming duty Chappell stood to expel this hard nut from the team.   Where Ganguly was sincerely wishing he got a coach who will help to correct the on side worry and bouncers, the coach thought it is better to remove him from the team so that the work is easy.   Supporting Chappell's nomination as Coach is the greatest mistake Ganguly has committed.

In the beginning of the year, I wrote a review on Sachin Tendulkar, where India has honoured the great Indian Batsman.   I will also write on Rahul Dravid, where I consider, together these three batsman defined and dictate the history Indian cricket for over a decade.    Where I felt happy for writing on the occasion of honour to Sachin Tendulkar, I am writing this with pain while reading a quote from Ganguly that "I was tired of being humiliated again and again. I don't want to play cricket at the mercy of others."  I sincerely believe that Ganguly deserved a better retirement.

Ok, there a cry for inclusion of younger blood into the team.     Didn't we give many and many youngsters several chances to the team?    Who in the younger squad show the consistency as the golden trio has shown when they were given a chance???   They say we should not live in our past or in future, but in present.     Wondering this is not applicable to cricket.

Chappell took away 1.5 years of cricketing career from this batsman and we were not kind to this batsman.  We lost an opportunity to show our love and affection to this talent and I will consider it as a matter of shame on us!

At the end of the review, I use the space to say thanks to Saurav Ganguly for his great contribution to Indian Cricket.    We would have insulted you Ganguly, but it doesn't reduce even a run from the score board which you made in years for the country which speaks for itself.   And when they insult you saying you are a 'burden' I can see that your record is much better than all of these people who says you cannot perform!   The Never dying Spirit of Success…you have done a good job!  Thank you for all the success days and winning strokes you have provided to the young India and Indians!!