When Maharaj decided to hang his boot!

An era is about to embrace its conclusion. It is stumps forever for the DADA of Indian cricket. Sourav has always been the ‘Damocles’ of Indian Cricket. Time and again he braved the sword hanging over his head. The sword scarred him but he never succumbed. He redefined Indian Team as “Team India”. He showed the world that Indians are here to rule. At Lord’s he laid the stepping stone of his career. Some said he is the Maharaja, some said he is “The Prince of Calcutta”; some endeared him as “chheleta”-the next door boy! Bengal Tiger became India’s most successful test captain. He took an underdog team to the grand finale of cricket world cup in 2003.
He could spontaneously take off his shirt with the signature “No Coward Soul is Mine”!
No amount of pressure could ever make him sigh! Whether its controversy; whether it is condescension, Sourav endured all. He integrated a fragmented team. Yet it is he who had forever been the ‘odd man out’ for the selectors.
From Lord’s to Mohali it has been a lifetime. Dada has sizzled with triumph, groaned in injustice; but never mourned for pity! The ‘man with the golden arm’ had to pass the acid test more than desired to prove the truth of his mettle! Sourav ‘Damocles’ Ganguly is a kind of his own. Whether it is smashing the spin legend Muralidharan at Taunton to score a mighty 183 or to put up a tough double century just when cynics began to rule him out, he had always been a Samaritan!
The list will go on and his achievements would usher in like filtered sunrays. The holy truth is that it is curtains for this legend of world cricket. He is hanging up his boots with glory. Let all pensive thoughts fly way. Let his overreaching contribution be the bliss of his solitude.
I wish luck to my hero! He is the man who infused the spirit of cricket in me. I will never be able to accept his farewell. But I believe he is the best judge of himself as he is of the game. Sourav you are the sailor who befriended the tempest and won over it. The game of Cricket is proud of you!
Cheers to life!