The Maharaja Has Left The Building

It was June 1996. As the Indian summer was drawing to a close, one certain man was heating things up in Lord's, England.
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly cracked a 131 in his first test appearance for India making him the highest run scorer on debut at what is known as the "Mecca of Cricket". He followed it with a 136 in the next match at Trent Bridge becoming only the third batsman to make a century in each of his first two innings.
The Maharaja had arrived!
I, all of 13, though not in England was in the next best place--Kolkata as the City of Joy erupted in obvious delight. Having been a non-resident Bengali, it made little sense to me then but looking back now, I wish otherwise.
A visit to the Dakshineshwar temple on the banks of river Hooghly will help if one wants to testify this.
Every morning, in some of those many stalls in the temple compound, do not be surprised if you see pictures of Rabindranath Tagore, Uttam Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Dada being worshipped along with Goddess Kali.
While Kolkata found an instant pin-up hero, the country followed suit as the Prince of Kolkata marched on piling runs and making the off-side his own fiefdom.
Come 1997 and Dada showed he could roll his arms a bit too as he made Pakistan run for cover at Sahara Cup, Toronto winning four consecutive man of the match awards. As much as we love to jump the gun, we put the mantle of an "all rounder" on the southpaw. Dada never complained!
After many experiments, the Indian team had finally found a perfect left and right hand opening combination, as Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar became one of the most lethal and enduring pair in limited over matches.
The memory is etched firm as I chewed off my fingers literally while Sourav held fort and India successfully and very dramatically chased Pakistan's 315 off 48 overs in the final of the Independence Cup at Dhaka in January 1998.
The 1999 World Cup in England is my next best memory as Ganguly with his future deputy Rahul Dravid blew to smithereens the Sri Lankan attack at Taunton, Somerset.
His knock of 183 off 158 balls remains the highest by an Indian in the tournament while his 318-run partnership with Dravid is the highest ever in the World Cup and is the second highest in all ODI cricket. Defending world champions of the time, Muttiah Muralitharan be damned!
It wasn't for nothing Dravid said, "On the off-side, first there is God then there is Sourav Ganguly!"
The following year as Indian cricket sunk to the lowest low amid the match fixing scandal and dismal performances, the nation cried out loud for a leader. While Tendulkar failed to balance batting and captaincy, Ganguly rose to the occasion.
Results though not swift were apparent. In the 2000 edition of the ICC Knockout Trophy in Kenya, India faltered only at the final hurdle to New Zealand.
Just for trivia sake, Sourav Ganguly was the highest run scorer of the tournament.
Long before Greg Chappell even thought of the "young gun" mantra for the Indian cricket team, Ganguly was twisting arms of the selectors championing the cause of young stalwarts like Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and eventually the current Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The captain knew what he was doing as the youngsters he pushed did not let him down.
In 2001, with Anil Kumble injured, Sourav insisted against popular opinion for the inclusion of Harbhajan Singh in the Gavaskar-Border Trophy. The offie whose career was in question over the legality of action became the first Indian bowler to claim a hat trick in Test cricket and with 32 wickets the Man of the Series that India won.
Steve Waugh's "final frontier" remained an elusive dream and we had the Maharaja to thank for leading a team out of the dumps and into the victor's dressing room.
It was etched in stone. India no longer was a home-turf bully and here was a team that was intimidated by no one.
Be it standing up Waugh at the toss or hurling his 99 number jersey unashamedly from the Lord's balcony on a dramatic victory over England, Sourav Ganguly showed the country leading a team is about taking no prisoners.
He started the now famous "team huddle", he illustrated that matches were not just won on the field and opponents could be thrashed just in the mind, Dada brought the word "team" its true worth.
An almost glorious run at the 2003 ICC World Cup followed when once again the national team played some blistering cricket to reach the finals and to eventually be humbled by Australia.
Only then the chinks in the armour seemed too apparent to be ignored. Fallout with the national coach, dwindling batting form, questions over fielding capabilities saw the king lose more than just his crown.
As Sourav watched his team on television in his drawing room, daughter Sana asked, "Bapi, why are you not playing?" An emotional father quietly replied because "they" did not think he was "good enough".
Comebacks followed but the critics were never silenced. Successful runs were quickly overshadowed by unsuccessful ones.
The old warrior finally knew his time had come when much to the woes of Behala, Kolkata and the nation, Sourav called it a day in October 2008.
As India humiliated Australia in Nagpur and brought home the Gavaskar-Border Trophy after four years, Sourav bowed out and in what style!
In an emotional gesture that would be long remembered, captain Dhoni asked Dada to lead the team one last time. It was yesterday once more as Sourav marshalled his troops in the much familiar style.
Hearts choked as Sourav was carried on shoulders, emotions worked overtime as the crowds chanted "Dada" and there were smiles galore as the shirt came off once again and was hurled to the fans.
And while the curtains closed and Sourav said, "I see myself in Dhoni", we know that the Maharaja is gone but his legacy remains. We believe!

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All things bright and Biprorshee