Greatest Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly announces retirement

[payalsh]

Hi

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All the best

[Sourav]

Ravi Shasthri: India never lost any test matches wenever ganguly scored a century!

[ajithfederer]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/377109.html

Indian cricket

People poisoned Chappell against me - Ganguly

Cricinfo staff

November 6, 2008


Sourav Ganguly: "The fact that I wasn't playing ODIs played a big part [in deciding to retire]. If I'd been playing in both forms of the game, perhaps I would've thought differently" © AFP


Sourav Ganguly has said he believes people outside the team poisoned Greg Chappell against him, leading to his removal from the captaincy and, for a while, from the team. Ganguly, who will bow out after the Nagpur Test against Australia, said he would not have been in the team for the current Test series against Australia if the "old selection committee had stayed" and that he would have "thought differently" about his retirement had he still been playing one-day cricket.

"The thing that hurt me the most, in my whole career, was that public email he [Chappell] sent - what was written in it and the tone in which it was written," he told the Indian Express. "It was very upsetting, and I found it strange because I didn't think we'd spent enough time together in the team for him to form such a strong opinion about me. I'm convinced that some people had poisoned him against me."

Asked whether they were people in the team, he said, "No, outside the team.'

The email was subsequently leaked to the media and Ganguly was out of the team till he staged a comeback late in 2006.

Chappell was appointed as coach with the backing of Ganguly, then India captain. "I'd discussed my batting with him a couple of times and he'd been very helpful. Most of the others wanted [Tom] Moody but I pushed for Chappell. You could say it was my biggest mistake, but I had the best for Indian cricket at heart. People joke with me that I was to blame for getting them stuck with him."

Ganguly suggested he might have continued for longer if he was still a part of India's ODI team. "I'm sure it's [retirement] never easy for anyone," he said. "But there were a lot of factors. I'd been left out of the Irani team, and I'd been out of the one-day side for a while. The fact that I wasn't playing ODIs played a big part. If I'd been playing in both forms of the game, perhaps I would've thought differently. I always wanted to leave on a high. There is no point being pushed around, dragging on for the last few years when nobody wants you."

Ganguly, however, said he still had "great respect" for Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the previous selection committee. "If he hadn't been the chief selector, I would've never made a comeback in 2006 [in South Africa]. I may not have agreed with his dropping me from the one-day team and the Irani, but that's okay."

Ganguly felt his fielding was the reason that cost him a place in the ODI team; he was dropped for the CB Series in Australia earlier this year. "I did think I should have played one-day cricket for longer. I was included in only some 30-odd matches in the last three years. In no other country can a player who's scored 12,000 runs in his career be used so sparingly.

"I believe it had to do with my fielding, and because they wanted to build a team for the 2011 World Cup. I didn't think I'd be around for that long, so I knew my one-day career was over after being left out for the Australia series."

© Cricinfo

[Sourav]

Stage set for a Ganguly special
Bobilli Vijay Kumar | TNN

Nagpur: At exactly 3.45 pm, with 22 overs still to go, the languid partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman came to an abrupt end. By now, the VCA stadium, looking like a colossal but haunted spacecraft, had already yielded half of its light to shadows.
As the drinks trolley ambled towards the pitch, the yawns stopped midway and gave in to excited murmurs; but the stands, awash in their brand new blues, reds, greens and oranges, were depressingly empty. Maybe, cities don’t travel to their outskirts for Test cricket anymore.
Eventually, Sourav Ganguly stepped out of the players’ enclosure: he was fashionably late again. Luckily, it was the mandatory break and the clock was not ticking away; anyway, neither Steve Waugh was waiting nor Ricky Ponting frothing yet to spark up the moment.
Ganguly took a couple of slow and calculated steps and, like always, looked up towards the skies; he hunted out the sun, made eye contact. And blinked. Who knows this could be his last innings as India’s batsman; after all, there is no guarantee that there would be a second chance on this comatose pitch.
Suddenly, his walk picked up pace. Even from behind, he looked perkier than he has ever done; the muscles rippled in his half-sleeved shirt; the red bandana, symbolizing his fighting spirit, peeped out of his helmet. Clearly, he hasn’t stopped waking up early or working on his fitness yet. The empty stands miraculously found a voice and rah-rahed him.
Ganguly walked up to Tendulkar and exchanged a partners-in-crime smile. The masterblaster, already into his nineties, was trying his best to gift another debutant his wicket. Luckily, he failed in both his attempts, and after a painfully long battle, made it to his 40th Test century.
In the meantime, like always, Sourav tested the patience of the Aussies: he took his own time to study the pitch and to take guard. A slip, a silly-point and a forward shortleg surfaced in response. Luckily, it was the debutant spinner (Jason Krejza) on attack. Full ball, near his feet. No worries.
Next over, Mitchell Johnson attacked his leg side. But the track had already shown that it had neither pace nor bounce to lose any appetite for runs. Ganguly flicked it gingerly towards mid-wicket. Single. It wasn’t going to be the second most famous last match duck (assuming there is no second chance).
Three overs later, he flicks a full toss wide of mid on. He makes a mad dash for a single, even though an easy one was there for the taking; well, he has never been a great judge between the wickets. Eventually, he punched one through covers, thumped the new ball to the square-leg boundary and lofted the spinners high into the air.
There was, however, no sign really of the divine drive, or magical timing. But as the shadows lengthened, serenity descended over him; he looked at peace with his batting and the footwork seemed sublime too. He stayed unbeaten on 27 at stumps, with India well poised at 311 for five.
Tomorrow is, of course, another day. We will surely see all the strokes, through the off and on, that made him so special over the years. He has this uncanny ability to convert a wonderful platform into a grand occasion too; so don’t be surprised if he does exactly that and makes his farewell Test truly memorable.
bobilli.vijay@gmail.com

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defau...Mode=HTML&GZ=T

[selvakumar]

Inga kolkata times la daily ganguly pathi oru news varuthu..

Seems west bengal govt is going to make him the brand ambassador of the state since they feel he can influence the youth in the state with his enormous appeal among them.

[littlemaster1982]

Konjam senti, but worth a read

Losing my religion

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

The events of the last few weeks are freaking me out. Anil Kumble has gone, Sourav Ganguly will go, and the other three may not be far behind. I assume there is a large group of cricket fans in their mid-to-late 20s, like me, who're grappling with the implications. This transition is messing with our minds.

Let me explain. For many of us cricket began in November 1989. Pictures of what went before are too hazy. I remember Allan Border lifting the World Cup but don't recall what I was doing then. So I can't connect Australia's World Cup win to my own life.

Sachin Tendulkar spoilt us. He commanded that we sit in front of the television sets. He ensured we got late with homework, he took care of our lunch-break discussions. He was not all that much older than us, and some of us naïve schoolboys thought we would achieve similar feats when we were 16. We got to 16 and continued to struggle with homework.

Then came Kumble and the two undertook a teenager-pampering mission not seen in India before. Tendlya walked on water, Jumbo parted seas. Our mothers were happy that we had nice heroes - down-to-earth prodigy and studious, brilliant bespectacled engineer. They were honest, industrious sportsmen, embodying the middle class.

When we thought we had seen everything, they reversed roles - Tendlya bowled a nerve-wracking last over in a semi-final, Jumbo played a match-winning hand with the bat. We were such spoilt brats that we pined for openers and fast bowlers. We cursed the side for not winning abroad. Such greed.

Economists would probably have predicted the bursting of the bubble. We had a deluge instead. One fine day at Lord's we got a glimpse of two new saviours: Delicate Timing and Immaculate Technique. Suddenly my group of eight friends was split into two camps. You were either with Ganguly or Dravid. In that period we even took Kumble and Tendulkar for granted. It was adolescent indulgence taken to the extreme.

When we played cricket on the streets, we had a number of choices. Left-handers were thrilled, defensive batsmen were happy, extravagant stroke-makers were delighted, the short boys didn't need to feel left out anymore, spectacles became cool, and freaky bowling actions were no more laughed at.

In such a state of bliss did we live our lives. We flunked important exams, shed tears over girls, crashed bikes, had drunken parties, choked on our first cigarettes, and felt utterly confused about our futures. But every time we felt low, we had an escape route. One glimpse of Dada stepping out of the crease, or Jam leaving a sharp bouncer alone, or Kumble firing in a yorker, was an uplifting experience. So what if India lost? Could any of those Pakistani batsmen even dream of batting like Sachin or VVS?

I remember Ganguly and Dravid soaring in Taunton, mainly because it was the day I got my board-exam results. And boy, did that provide some much-needed relief. I remember Tendulkar's blitz against Australia in Bombay because my dad, who thought cricket was a waste of time, sat through every ball. So connected were these cricketers to my growing up.

Now, after close to 20 years, my generation needs to brace itself for this exodus. Some of my friends, crazy as this sounds, have been talking of needing to revaluate their own careers. Others are realising they need to recalibrate their childhood definitions of cricket. "Part of me just died," said a college friend who was the kind of extreme cricket buff who memorised scorecards. "No Dada, no Jumbo. I'm positive I'll stop watching after Sachin and Rahul retire."

These players were not only outstanding cricketers but also great statesmen. However hard they competed, they were always exceptional role models. Now we dread the next wave of brashness and impetuosity. Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth are talented cricketers, but there's no way anyone would want a young kid to emulate either. The younger crop seems worse - a visit to some of their Orkut and Facebook pages tells you enough - and things may only get cruder in a cricket world when you can make a million dollars in a little over three hours.

"Our childhood is ending," said a friend from school, and in some way he was probably spot on. Tendulkar's retirement may mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but for a generation of 25- to 30-year-olds it will mark the end of the first part of their lives. Switching on the television the day after will be a serious challenge.

[P_R]

If Sourav makes a century today then he will join this list:

W H Ponsford of Australia scored 110 against England at Sydney on 19-12-1924 and 266 against England at The Oval on 18-08-1934

Greg Chappel of Australia scored 108 against England at Perth on 11-12-1970 and 182 against Pakistan at Sydney on 02-01-1984

M Azharuddin of India scored 110 against England at Kolkata on 31-12-1984 and 102 against South Africa at Bangalore on 02-03-2000

A G Ganteaume of West Indies scored 112 against England at Port of Spain on 11-02-1948 (It was his first as well as last match)

R E Redmond of Newzealand scored 107 against Pakistan at Aukland on 16-02-1973 (It was his first as well as last match)"

[viraajan]

Beautiful game Dada

I don't know how my reaction will be when dada plays his last innings in couple of days

I'm emotionally stuck

[MADDY]

Beautiful game Dada

I don't know how my reaction will be when dada plays his last innings in couple of days

I'm emotionally stuck

same here ....for me he is the one who changed the face of Indian(now BCCI) cricket Dhoni is just continuing from where he left off

[Sourav]

Dona has no regrets about Dada quitting
Our Correspondent in Nagpur
November 07, 2008
Like her husband, Dona Ganguly knew retirement was inevitable so when the decision came, she was not surprised.

After a career which saw Sourav Ganguly [Images] amass more than 7,000 runs in Test cricket and 11,363 runs in one day internationals, Dona says she has no regrets as the left-hander ends his international career after the fourth and final Test against Australia [Images] in Nagpur.

Dona, who traveled to Nagpur with daughter Sanaa to witness Sourav's farewell Test, told rediff.com in an exclusive chat: "It was a decision that was coming, so no regrets. Everyone has to retire."

Sourav, she says, will be able to spend more time with his father Chandidas Ganguly who has been his biggest supporter since he took up the game.

"He used to miss his father a lot when he travelled for cricket. He can spend time with his dad," says Dona.

She missed watching Sourav's debut Test at Lord's in 1996 and wanted to be there when he bid adieu to the game.

"I was not present at Lord's when he scored a century on debut. We were not married then. I wanted to be a part of his last Test," she adds.

Sourav told the Board of Control for Cricket in India's felicitation ceremony in Nagpur on Thursday that he owes all his success to his father.

"I am using this opportunity to thank my father who is the saddest person today that I am quitting cricket. I owe my entire cricketing success to him. I want to thank my wife whom I have known for a long time, my family, my brother who is not there and all those people who supported me since my under-15 days," he said.

Ganguly's career has been marked by a few controversies, but he said he has no regret since he always worked towards improving Indian cricket.


"The last 13, 14 years I have made some friends and I have made some enemies, but I want to assure you that it was all for the good of Indian cricket."

Ganguly said it has been a long journey with his team-mates, some of whom he has been with for the last 20 years.

"It has been a long journey for me with lots of ups and downs, victory and loss, but it was wonderful. I have some fantastic memories at the end of the day. I shared the dressing room with Sachin (Tendulkar), Anil (Kumble), V V S (Laxman), Rahul (Dravid) whom I had met in Kanpur long back during an under-15 tournament," he said.

"It was a great run not just in terms of the sport, but in terms of life. For me this game was not only about the sport, but a great life turner," he said.

Ganguly, the most successful captain in Indian Test cricket history, wished new skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] good luck.

"To my team-mates it has been a wonderful journey. To MS and (Indian coach) Gary (Kirsten), good wishes for a wonderful future," the 36-year-old star said. "You are the torch-bearers of Indian cricket along with the members of the Indian cricket team. I hope you take Indian cricket forward and whenever I sit in front of the TV I can say I have played with these guys."

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/n...a-quitting.htm

Thalaivaaaa...