- Sourav Ganguly, opening batsman ( in reserve ) for Bangalore Royal Challengers.
If you are a KKR fan and if you have relentlessly debated and shouted over Sourav’s “unsold” stature for the past few days, then hold on… Read the above lines again…Does that make you feel better? Obviously not!
I have been a fan of Sourav Ganguly all throughout but one must understand that there is a thin line between a fan and a fanatic and I am not a fanatic.
For the past couple of months the grapevine in Indian media had been bringing the news of Dada’s exclusion from the KKR Team and I believe Sourav Ganguly was more than ready to join some other franchisee. I wonder how would we have received that piece of news…with candle march (!) may be!
In this era when Indian Cricket is managed by Business Council for Cricket in India (BCCI), should we not receive such instances with more maturity? Yes…Eden and Kolkata have always been very emotional but I believe its high time that we grow up as a communiy. In 2005 when Ganguly was dropped from the team, the whole of Bengal erupted in protests. I would not deny the fact that even I was disappointed but it doesnt by any means justify the action of the crowd at Eden Gardens which full fledgedly supported the South African team and booed the Indian Team led by Rahul Dravid.
Kapil Dev has rightly said that the ommission of Sourav Ganguly from IPL 4 is not “purely on cricketing basis”..I believe its his attitude that is to be blamed for this exclusion of his from the fourth edition of IPL, even after being the fourth highest run getter and having scored four half centuries in the third edition.
He has been a problem creator all throughout his cricketing career and is it just sheer coincidence that he had problems with the administrators/owners/players/coach of each and every team he played with, be that Indian Team, KKR or Lancashire for that matter! I wonder how would he and his fans have reacted if he would have been placed under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership in this edition of IPL. This itself would have sparked a new controversy.
KKR being already under the limelight of the most highprofile owner in IPL had their share of controversies and gossips in the previous editions of the League…Isnt it a better option to focus on cricketing issues rather than personal issues now given the fact that KKR has till now been the most unsuccessful team and have never qualified for the semi finals.
The people of Bengal have selflessly adored and worshipped Sourav Ganguly for years. It would have been the most fitting gesture by him to have withdrawn from the auction (and not increase his base price) if he really wanted to pay back the people of Bengal for their love and support, since there was every possibility of him being ‘bought’ by some other franchisee.
I still wonder how his supporters would have reacted watching the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ fighting for some other team!?
