They said he could not wield a willow,
They said he could not play the game,
But little did they know;
That Sourav Ganguly was his name.
The majestic tiger of the nation,
Was belittled and treated with disdain,
All seemed intent on his condemnation;
But he proved himself yet again.
As he entered the battlefield,
With his teams in dire straits,
The inner scars weren’t yet healed;
But then he proved why he is one of the greats.
In an innings studded with sublime fours,
And a towering hit over the fence,
He showed how the tiger roars;
In resilient retaliation and defence.
His devotees had prayed fervently for him,
And he rose to the occasion,
His fortitude and determination rescued the team;
His batting, a paradigm of concentration.
Going about his task in a composed way,
He showed that the tough get going when the going gets tough,
He kept the inimical opposition at bay;
Of the scathing insults and insinuations,he had had enough.
They said he could not wield a willow,
They said he could not play the game,
But little did they know;
That Sourav Ganguly was his name.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sourav Ganguly's majestic return .
Fourteen months back he was in the wilderness .His dreams of playing the World Cup 2007 was far from a dream then .His bat had stopped talking and the runs had dried up.
The team was doing well without him and it seemed h would never make a comeback .But Sourav Ganguly had other thoughts .He did not retire but went back to Domestic and County cricket to go back to his basics .The county season was not a success and he returned home to play the Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy where he managed only 4 and 24. Clearly that was not enough to alert the selectors. Everyone in India asked questions as to why he was not quitting. Ganguly kept firm and said he still believed he had enough still left to give to team India .He went back to play the Duleep Trophy and was selected captain of East Zone. And suddenly the fortune for India’s most successful captain changed .He scored a terrific 117 on his first match after the County season .If that wasn’t enough he followed it up with a series of good performances with both bat and ball in the Duleep Trophy as well as the in the first league of Ranji Trophy. Team India on the other hand was facing trouble. Youngsters Suresh Raina and seniors like Sehwag were not scoring runs and India were consistently losing matches .By then Kiran More & co. had gone and Dilip Vengsarkar had taken over as the Chairman .As he got into the hot seat he went back to experience recalling ODI discards VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble for the series against South Africa. Sourav had his fingers crossed and rightly so. After India’s 0-4 whitewash in the OD series Sourav was recalled into the Test side after 8 months. There were nerves but it turned out to be the best comeback ever .He scored 51 not out of 101 balls as India went on to win that match. India however went onto lose the series but Sourav finished as the highest run getter amassing 214 runs at an average of 42 with 2 50’s. And that was not to be the end as he was soon recalled into the ODI side after 14 months. And there was even more pressure there as he was playing at home .He came back well there a well with a magnificent 109 ball 98. Clearly all doubts was put to rest and the Prince of Kolkata was back to his majestic best scoring 179 runs in the 3 matches he played. Then the Sri Lanka series followed and he scored another 168 runs at an average of 84 .He was declared Man of the Series and he only managed to say that God’s blessing helped him comeback. He is already in the squad for the World Cup and will be a key player in the Caribbean .The man with 10400 plus ODI runs has cleared everyone’s doubts and he has let his bat do the talking .We now see a better, a fitter, a younger Sourav clearly.
This as all would agree is the greatest comeback ever.
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