Sourav Ganguly - India's Dada - Retires
India's Most Successful Cricket Captain Bids Farewell
Nov 16, 2008
When Sourav Ganguly - The Prince of Kolkata as dubbed by Geoff Boycott but Dada to his team-mates and millions of fans - bid farewell to international cricket at the conclusion of the Test match series between India and Australia this month, he was able to walk off the stage with his head held high, leaving behind some wonderful memories for his fans, a rich legacy for Indian cricket and an Indian team that had regained its pride and its position in the international cricket arena.
Century on Debut
The 36 year old left-hander began his Test career in 1996 in sensational style, scoring a century on debut at Lords - the first (and only) Indian to have done so. His departure too was done in similar sensational fashion: a century (102 at Mohali) in his penultimate match, a half century (85) in the first innings of his final game at Nagpur, and - almost as if he could not resist the temptation to emulate Don Bradman himself - a duck in his final innings.
His nickname Dada comes from the Hindi for 'older brother ' - and he certainly played the role of mentoring older brother to young players in his team like Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. But in colloquial Hindi, the term Dada has other connotations - implying more a leader, a ringleader, even a Don. And it was not only in the manner of his departure that Dada could be compared to Don Bradman himself.
When Ganguly was appointed captain of the Indian team in 2000, it was a testing time for the new captain and the young Indian team. But he took control - and like Sri Lanka's feisty former captain Arjuna Ranatunga, he had no problem taking the fight to the enemy. His attitude seemed to be not merely leading his players to destroy their opponents' bowling and batting, but also using tactics to destroy his opponents' mental stability and and ability to cope.
2001- India-Australia Series
A few months after he took over the captaincy, when Australia arrived to play a Test series in india, they were at the top of their game - world champions with 15 straight Test wins behind them, with India being the final hurdle in the path of this Australian juggernaut.
Well educated , confident (to the point of even being described in some quarters as arrogant!) and articulate (his years in the classrooms at St Xavier's were obviously not wasted), Ganguly in impeccable English made calculated snipes at his opponents at press conferences, kept his opposing captain fuming by turning up late for the toss, showed the Australians he could sledge as well as they could in their own language - and in the battle of mind games (as Australian captain Steve Waugh was to concede later) he got the better of the Australians. His team came up trumps, defeating Australia 2-1 in that series and denying them the record-breaking 17 straight wins they were seeking.
During his 16 year Test career he scored 16 centuries and over 7000 runs, acquiring a reputation as not only as an inspirational captain but also an elegant batsman. He is one of only 3 players in the world to achieve the amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history, the others being Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.
By the time he retired, Ganguly had established himself as India's most successful cricket captain, with 21 wins achieved under his leadership that spanned 49 Test matches. Even the timing of his retirement, going out at the top of his game, could not have been timed better.
Like Frank Sinatra, Dada Did It - His Way.
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