Dada

To me, Sourav Ganguly's defining moment was when he took off his shirt, waved it in the air and shouted unmentionables at Lords after winning the Natwest series. This incident was considered deplorable by cricket's gentlemanly standards but it was a fair rebuttal to similar antics by Flintoff during the previous series at home. More importantly, it showed that Indians could finally also play the game with aggression and killer instinct. During that game, Ganguly led by example with a solid half century before passing the baton on to the youngsters in the team, Kaif and Yuvraj to finish the game. It was a showcase of what the world could expect from us during World Cup 2003. I mention this incident because it's important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of a great cricketer.

Coming to the issue of whether he deserves a place in the ODI/Test side or not, it is equally important to recognize where Ganguly stands today on the basis of performance over the last 2-3 years rather than the glory of the past. Everyone keeps talking about his aggregate of over 10,000 runs at an average of about 40. What we forget, is that Ganguly's average has been steadily declining over the past few years. During his heyday, his average used to be in the 50s. When he walked to the crease there was a sense of comfort that he would invariably achieve a big score. Does anyone, even his ardent supporters have that sense of confidence anymore? Sure he scored 40 and 39 in the last test. Out of how many balls? 129 and 115. Thats two runs of every over he faced. Is that the Ganguly we remember? I am not saying that he was treated fairly when he was dropped from the third test. The selectors goofed up there. But his day in the sunshine is over and no one deserves a place in the side based purely on past glory. It would have been great if everyone including Ganguly recognized this series as his farewell series and he went out with guns blazing and his head held high (a la Steve Waugh). That could happen in the Pak series as well.