In the Behala suburb of Kolkata stands tall a four-storey palatial home of printing business baron, Chandidas Ganguly. This residence is home to around 50 members of Ganguly family. Among all of them also resides the Prince of Kolkatta who also is known as Sourav Ganguly.
The second son of Chandidas and younger brother of Snehasish, was born on this very day of 8th July 1972 in the City of Joy Kolkata. Being a true Bengali, his first and true love (not to forget Dona) was Football. His favourite position was that of a striker, but destiny had something else written for this naturally right handed batsman.
Yes, little would people know that Sourav was actually a right handed batsman. He became left-handed for convenience. His brother Snehasish was an accomplished left-hander and was the one who pulled Sourav from football to cricket.
Nevertheless, thanks to Snehasish the cricket world could see one in a million off-side batting God in Sourav Ganguly. Sourav's international debut was a forgettable one, way back in 1992. Almost all or whichever cricketing pundit saw him must have written him off then and there. Sourav Ganguly was almost like a story that started to end on the same day.
But he was determined to make an impact whenever possible. Selectors gave him a couple of high-performing youngsters a nod for the English tour. Sourav was one and the other was Rahul Dravid who from then till Sourav became the captain remained in his shadow. His breathtaking back-to-back centuries in England remained one of the most scintillating debuts in Indian cricket.
From then till now Sourav Ganguly's tale has been the chronicle of cricketing circles most unpredictable intellectuals. For his impulsive way of cricket he was perceived to be a brash person too. But records gave another side of the story that he was India's best ever captain. His strong belief in individualism led to his evolution of being one of the most revered cricket leaders of all time.
This also led to his down fall. Cricket showed its other side to a man who possibly gave the world the likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan and many more youngsters who became show-stoppers from no-showers. In a cricket-crazy nation, the famous bare-chested captain of Natwest series and the heroic leader of 2003 World cup became an anti-hero. His run-ins with the administration and especially against the much-hyped coach Greg Chappell went against him.
But his insistence and patronage to this attitude gave India many glorious moments. His unflinching support to the likes of Yuvraj and Bhajji made them stand against the world in support of their beloved leader. Yuvi on one of his comebacks was quoted "I'm ready to die for such a captain". The quote said volumes about how Sourav galvanised his team. Probably, no one else than him understood the insecurities of a newcomer as he had received a raw deal in the beginning of his career.
It was under his stewardship that India's dismal overseas records took a u-turn. His instinctive, tough and hardnosed leadership saw India going on to the World Cup finals in 2003. The most difficult part of his captaincy was the fact that he took over the reins when the country was sucked up by the match-fixing scandal. His in your face stance got his equal appreciation and criticism.
But he became the cult idol of India after beating Pakistan in Pakistan. That was the peak from where he actually started sloping down. He strongly believed in brinksmanship which could be easily seen when he kept many captains including Steve Waugh waiting at the toss. This got on to the nerves of Waugh sr. but in his autobiography confessed that Ganguly brought a 'new steeliness in the team'.
But for all what he is, in Bengal he is one of the most influential personalities. His one word here or there makes noise of great magnitudes. Any criticism on him becomes a state-level issue. When he was dropped from the Indian team, it became a point of debate in Bengal state legislative assembly. From a layman to the top political leaders of the state, all worshipped their 'prince' from the bottom of their heart.
But all this didn't actually help when Sourav had not scored anything substantial and his athleticism was as usual a question mark. He was out and pundits thought that this was the end of the Sourav era. However, Ganguly in his unflinching ways was determined to prove all his critics wrong. He went back to domestic cricket, scored a couple of hundreds and made a comeback to the Indian team when the formula of young blood was failing.
When all seemed to be over and out for him, Sourav turned the tables around. His comeback to Indian team was one of the most fascinating ripostes ever seen in this game. It was nothing short of a fairy-tale. This comeback fetched him the Castrol Asian Cricketer of the year award for being the highest run scorer in Asia in the year 2007.
Keeping all his whims and fancies aside, Sourav gave the world of cricket many reasons may be good or bad to read about. His cricket story is nothing less than a drama or a soap opera. Believe it or not Ganguly amader ashol jhyodha (Ganguly is a true warrior)
