After the successful demolition of the Aussies when the Indian team took field in Chennai , two of the greatest names in the past one and a half decades weren’t there on the Team sheet.
I have grown up watching Anil Kumble come in and bowl in test matches for 17 years now. So it felt so odd when he wasn’t there in the Team in this series. It was as if my heart kept telling me Kumble will be on soon and we will see the same aggression, fight and lots of wickets as soon as he comes in. But it wasn’t to be. The new generation had taken over. The day he hung up his boots in Delhi, a modern day legend had bid adieu leaving behind a legacy of great acts on the field of cricket. Kumble single handedly won so many test matches for our country. His spirit was indefatigable. He gave aggression a different meaning, so different when compared to the foul mouthed Aussies, yet so effective.
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A Kumble classic would spit out on a 4th day pitch with a little bounce, a little turn and a mighty stare at the batsmen, getting across the message who the boss was. It used to be a common sight for Indian cricket lovers. He is the epitome of spin bowling, a classic role model and a superb statesman. The dignity with which he handled the Sydney gate is one of the prime examples of this great cricketer. Its not so easy to be in the league of greats in any sport; it requires a humungous amount of hard work, dedication, sacrifice and an undying spirit. I truly salute you Kumble for all the joy and happiness which you have brought to the millions of cricket lovers all across the globe.
Another demi-god of modern day cricket in India - Saurav Ganguly, bid adieu in the same series. The name Ganguly brings to my mind a few of his qualities: Temperament over technique, dog-fight over meekness, combat over surrender, an-eye-for-an-eye and a stone for a brick attitude. He just redefined the way Indians played cricket over his tenure as the Captain. He sure made some tough, bold andsometimes not so popular decisions as preferring Harbhajan over Kumble or leaving out Laxman in favour of Dinesh Mongia in the 2003 World Cup. The aura of his captaincy sometimes overshadowed his lack of runs at different phases of his career.
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Dada’s, by now very famous, retort to the master of the so called mental disintegration theory is an example of where he wanted to lead Indian cricket. For many people there always have been rare instances of an Indian player giving it back to the opposition in the pre Ganguly era. Only instances which come to my mind are the very famous Prasad-Sohail spat and the answer Dravid gave to the white lightening Alan Donald in a day nighter ODI in South Africa. But once Dada’s army took wings, there was no stopping of the very new aggressive India in world cricket. Another very important aspect of Ganguly’s career was his calculated and assaultive batting right at the beginning in the ODIs and in the lower middle order in tests. He often punished bowling attacks by battering them to oblivion. A quote from Dravid: “On Offside, first there is God and then there is Ganguly” defined his batting. He cared less on his weakness, instead turned it into opportunity to flourish.
In all, I want to doff my hat to this courageous, original, unconventional, loved and respected cricketer of all time. Characters like his come once in a very long time and be rest assured this Bengal Tiger is not gonna lie low. I would be waiting for the day when Ganguly will take up the mantle of Indian Cricket team’s national coach and once again we would see his astute cricketing brain working from behind, putting all his characters into a bunch of ambitious cricketers. Till then auf Wiedersehen Mr. Ganguly !!!
