Sourav Ganguly: End of an era.

Here is a man who has experienced it all in international cricket. He has had an eventful career with lots of highs and lows throughout his cricketing journey. He had a dream debut and a dramatic end to his career. When everyone doubted his abilities and raised questions over his selection in the national side, he silenced all the critics by his excellent performance at the highest level. He was dropped from the national team several times and made solid comebacks for which he is called ‘the king of comebacks.’ He also had a spat with the national coach and was quite controversial. He is of course the ‘Dada’ as he is fondly called.

Sourav ‘Dada’ Ganguly made his test debut against England at Lords with a brilliant century. After that there was none stopping him. He was not blessed with technique or power but he was a sheer timer of the cricket ball. His team mate, Rahul Dravid, calls him ‘the God on the off-side.’ His stroke play on the off side was spectacular. He has played many crucial innings. He was a champion player. He is India’s first left hander to have scored more than 7,000 test runs.

He was a good batsman but better he was as a captain. He is arguably the best captain India has ever produced. He changed the whole mind set of the players. He proved that Indians were no more a soft touring side. It was under his captaincy that India started performing well overseas and started believing that they were capable enough of winning matches abroad. He backed the players whom he believed in. He was very aggressive on the field. He never took a step back in speaking his mind out. He is known as a tough man on and off the field which is evident in his shirt removing act at the Lords balcony. He proved to the entire world that India was as good a team as England or Australia. He as a skipper led from the front. He had once kept Steve Waugh waiting for the toss that was the kind of daring personality he was.

Now that we’ll never see Sourav Ganguly play for India we are bound to miss him. He might well be remembered for more reasons than one but ‘The Prince of Kolkata’ will be a proud man for what he has achieved for so many years. His fans and cricket fans at large will surely remember this great man for the passion, focus, dedication and perseverance he had but what really defines him is his ‘never say die’ attitude. This is perhaps the end of an era.

Anil Kumble: A Legend

Anil Kumble was not only a champion of a cricketer but also a gem of a person. He is regarded as one of the true gentlemen to have played the game. He has been a great ambassador of the game. He commanded respect in world cricket for 18 long years of his cricketing career.

Anil Kumble started off as a medium pacer and only on his brother’s advice he started bowling leg spin. When he made his debut for India people criticized him saying he couldn’t turn the ball but ironically he has got over 600 test wickets, India’s leading wicket taker. He is only the 3^rd highest wicket taker in the world after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. Kumble was a fighter.

The energy that he brought on the field was tremendous. He didn’t talk much but let his bowling do all the talking hence he was rightly called ‘A silent assassin.’ He was a determined cricketer. He has bowled with a broken-jaw in Antigua against West Indies. Even in the farewell match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, he bowled and took an excellent catch with 11 stitches on his left hand. He is truly a committed player.

Kumble has single handedly won matches for India. In 1999 against the Pakistanis he picked up all the 10 wickets in the second innings at the Kotla. He destroyed his opponents with his variations, accuracy and bounce. He played aggressive cricket but played it with dignity.

His team mate Navjot Singh Siddhu, once called him ‘Jumbo Jet’ for the bounce he got of the pitch. And from then on he is fondly called ‘Jumbo. Apart from his contribution as a bowler, he immensely contributed as a captain. He captained the team for the last few months of his career. He was a very responsible captain. He led his team from the front.

Jumbo was a great student of the game. Even while the leg spinner bid adieu to cricket he said he was still learning the art of bowling leg spin. He was a great personality. The entire world admires the man for what he is and young cricketers look up to him for inspiration. He is down to earth and humble. He was a non-controversial man. He played his cricket with immense passion, focus, dedication, dignity and honour. He will be remembered as a lion hearted warrior who gave his 100% every time he went out there.

Let’s bid goodbye to ‘Awesome Anil’ as he bids goodbye to cricket, the game he played passionately since his school days.