OK Dada Bye bye

and that was a stupendous performance against england and pakistan.. and the politics of the BCCI notwithstanding, it could very well be the end of one Saurav Ganguly.. for perhaps only the second time in his life, Ganguly is now the underdog, and the favourite to seal the matter is none other than the chap from down under, whose candidacy (ironically) Ganguly himself had vociferously supported ...it has been a see-saw battle, which started even under Ganguly's reign... Ganguly's tirade against Chappell, the leaked e-mail and Chappell's stoic silence..

Unfortunately Ganguly spoke when his bat should have done the talking, and perhaps Chappell was indeed betting on that not happening.. and while everything else worked for Ganguly - selectors, crowds, commentators, one thing was conspicuous by its absence - the batting form that had made him the captain of India... and its persisting absence then made everything else stop working, and Ganguly was out... Chappell gave in to pressure and brought him back into the team... and still betted on his batting not working.. he was right again...

who knows what might have happened if dravid had not shielded Ganguly in pakistan and opened the batting.. because all said and done, ganguly possesses one other thing than his batting skill, that might have saved the day for him - a champion's heart.. he might have ducked the bouncers, fished outside the off stump, given a fewchances, displayed a technique with a million flaws, and at the end of it all made a century...thats exactly what sachin had done to his critics, slapped them in the face with a century...

I am by no means a Ganguly fan, but the bottom line was that he had transformed Indian cricket,made India win matches, supported a young bunch of talent and in the process, made himself a persona which aspiring youngsters could look up to..he showed what India was capable of.. maybe for selfish reasons, maybe not... It is ironical, that just when it was time for Boycott's (and Kolkata's) prince to become king, he was dethroned..

until next time, up against a wall