Adieu, Legend !

Phew.. I never knew this would happen. Dada has retired. Yup, he is the only reason I'm such a cricket fanatic. He has rightly been hailed the Robin Hood of Indian cricket.

I started taking cricket seriously in '96 when the World Cup happened. Before that, I didn't care a dime about cricket ( I wonder how I managed to live pre-96 !!) .Okay, I used to play sometimes..used to get clobbered mercilessly by a variety of opponents including my own sister, cousin brother and the like. I was a fat ass !! The WC happened and suddenly I was the maddest 9 year old in the country. I was fixated; the WC handbook that came with 'Indian Express' became my Bible. I read about the beautiful game, the players, the matches... I got hooked for life. I cried along with Kambli during the Eden Gardens fiasco ( no, not exactly tears...but a kind of heart-ache is what I was referring to; my tear glands are non-working even under the extreme of emotions.) The Eden Gardens match gave me bad memories about Kolkata. Little did I know that it was all to change soon.

Fast forward to an English summer '96 ... I had become a regular newspaper reader ever since the WC happened ( yup, that WC made my life in many ways!) I read about the dirty game of politics happening behind the Indian team selection. I lamented along with many eminent cricket journos when they decried a supposedly suicidal decision to recall a certain Sourav Ganguly to the side after a hiatus of 4 years. His record wasn't that good to me then. History intervened and the so called arrogant brat Sourav Ganguly made his Test debut at the Mecca of cricket in '96, much to the dismay of his legion of detractors who had been braying for his blood ever since he was recalled to the side, 4 years after making his ODI debut during a disastrous tour Down Under and being subsequenly dropped to languish in the wilderness of first-class cricket.

And he delivered in royal style. The legend of cricket's very own Bengal Tiger was born on that fateful English summer day at Lord's. From then onwards, on the off-side, there has been God and then Sourav Ganguly. Post 2008, God will be alone once again. Sourav Ganguly has retired from international cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar may be the God of Indian cricket but Sourav will always be the King. Atleast to me. You are the best. I will miss you. Cricket will never be the same again for me and a billion fans of yours. I am a certified Dadamaniac for life !!