Saurav Ganguly: Heroes who refuse to be Legends

Since the 90s, most of us have observed Indian cricket closely and watched it develop under many captains. Personally, I have never noticed the kind of aggressiveness Ganguly has depicted, by any of his predecessors, especially the ones in the 90s. Saurav Ganguly stepped in as a captain and fitted the slot as if he always belonged there. We all have come to admire Saurav’s blatant arrogance. And of course, in time of hay and shine as captain for 5 years or so, he has backed it with stroke play that undoubtedly touched the limits of elegance and finesse. As once said by another iconic figure in cricket; “On the off-side, first there’s god, then there’s Ganguly”. Well, may be god didn’t appreciate his comparison with a mere human, hence shelved Ganguly into a prolonged depression as a batsmen as well as a captain.

In the history of Indian cricket, we can name numerous heroes who have neared the rock bottom in their early thirties. Some of them have taken the smarter route, retired before hitting the rocks, hence elevated there status as Legends. Sunil Gavaskar makes the perfect example.

Unfortunately, many of our other heroes never came to terms with the fact that ‘its time’. As a result, they had to be cast away, rather rudely or literally at times. Ravi Shastri; the champion of champions!, Manoj Prabhakar; Opening batmen and opening bowler for a couple of years; all had the making of legends, but today, can only be remembered as heroes at certain points in their career.

Looking at the proceeding with respect to Ganguly, be it fair or unfair, right or wrong, majority of the people have got tired of Ganguly’s lack of form. His futile attempts of justification by pointing at older statistics that even an amateur can recognize for their bare irrelevance, is overwhelming. It would be unfortunate if we cannot remember Saurav Ganguly as a Legend, and it is up to him who can decide his future to make a history worthy of him.

As it currently stands, history will indicate Saurav Ganguly as a Hero in Indian cricket, and might strip him off the legendary status, for which he is so much in line to attain.

Ashwin Mokadam

click to read all FEATURED ARTICLE

Send this article to a friend

Read all the news about: Saurav Ganguly, Your Cricket News