A Golden Opportunity

It would have been quite a bit of a surprise, when Saurav Ganguly was also named in the list of people selected for the upcoming 4 test series against Australia. The entire media has written off Saurav Ganguly, when he was dropped for the Irani Trophy. Worst he didn't even feature in the 'A' team, taking up New Zealand. But this kind of a come back is not new to Ganguly, for having observed sanyaaas from international cricket for more than a year, made an amazing comeback against South Africa. In an ad campaign, he would say, "My name is Saurav Ganguly. Bhule tho naheen". Very few would have thought that he will be given a second chance. 

But the Bengali southpaw not only came back to the Indian National team, he even went on make his first double century in test cricket against Pakistan. But his scores against Sri Lanka and his performances in Australia and IPL didn't prompt the selectors to pick him for the Irani Trophy. But the new selection panel headed by Srikaanth has brought him back to the Indian team. This is a golden opportunity for Saurav Ganguly.

This is not an opportunity for Ganguly to prove his mettle as a batsman with more cricket still left in him. But to use this opportunity to announce his retirement and take a graceful exit from International Cricket. No matter whatever form he is in, how many runs he scores in this series against Australia, Ganguly has given more to Cricket. Only under his captaincy did India win the ICC champions trophy (joint winners with Sri Lanka), and were runners up in ICC Champions trophy and the world cup as well. India even won the Natwest Series under his captaincy. He has got the credit of stopping the Aussie jaggernaut from posting the 17th straight test victory. After giving so much to Indian cricket, it is time up to hang his boots now. He has to set an example to other senior cricketers to make way for budding youngsters.

Other than Sunil Gavaskar, I couldn't think of any other cricketer who has announced his retirement and played his last match. All past captains of India, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Vengsakar, Srikaanth, Azharuddin were sidelined from Indian cricket and they had to make an unceremonious exit from Cricket. Ganguly having served Indian Cricked for over a period of more than a decade should take a feather from the Aussie's cap, who have the habit of announcing their retirement before playing their final series. In fact Australia lost great players like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn in one series. They all had announced their retirement before playing their last match.

A cricketer commands respect not only by playing well, but also by timing of his retirement. Ganguly by announcing his retirement will command more respect from the fans and media and other co-players. The selectors have created an avenue for Ganguly to make his own exit, rather than being sidelined and thrown away from the Indian National Team. Having retired, he can nurture the next generation guys and also concentrate more on domestic and of course IPL, which is more remunerative.

It is time up for you Dada. Thanks a lot for entertaining us so long.