Sourav Ganguly: The Controversial Saga Continues

- Sourav Ganguly the Captain of Team Pune
- 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!?

Laxman proves it again, again and again...

How long will we be fed by the idol-worshipping media of our country who has mastered the technique of creating hype over non-issues!

Before the start of the Ahmedabad Test all that was flashed by the media was “Will Sachin be able to make his 50^th test century?” Nobody was concerned about the team or the match. After Sachin got out at 40 in the first innings of the test match,one leading Hindi news channel ran this headline all day long, “Sachin apne shatak se chuke!”

Its a pity that we forget the other heroes too conveniently. Be it Colombo or Mohali or Ahmedabad Laxman has showed and proved it again and again that he belongs to the group of “all time greats”! His 281* knock at Eden Gardens was not only his career's best but I would say it was the best ever innings of Indian cricket team because it was the innings that changed the face of Indian cricket. They defeated the Shaheshas of cricket, thats Steve Waugh's Australia and there was no looking back for the team!

From Quarter finalists of World Cup 1999 they turned out to be the finalists of World Cup 2003 .

His career might not have been blessed with 'n' number of centuries, half centuries, cola ads, mobile ads, captaincies, vice-captaincies,rumours with onscreen divas...but he has always served our team silently (sometimes even with injections!)

How many of us are aware of the fact that in the last 3 years, Laxman has been the 5th best test batsman with an average of almost 60 per innings. His average during this period has been more than the likes of Ponting, Dravid, Kallis, and Sachin. (Sachin's avg is 59.12 and Laxman's avg has been 59.42). During this period Sachin scored twelve centuries and eleven fifties while VVS has scored only five centuries and sixteen fifties.

Isnt it a pity that even Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan and Nayan Mongia (!) gets a Padmashree from the Government of India while this real hero has been ignored for years and years!

But all this media, hype, awards mean nothing when it comes to earning the love and respect of the masses. “Very Very Special” Laxman we know what you are capable of, you need not prove it to US again, again and again.

Vetnai -the undiscovered haven

Give a break to all the Bay of Bengal beaches ( or even Puri!) and Shantiniketan and enter this world of undiscovered black bucks this weekend.
A small village, Vetnai in the district of Ganjam (Orissa) and a mere 570km away from Kolkata has every potential to be one of the biggest attractions of eastern India which has surprisingly gone unnoticed by the tourists till now.
Surrounded by the Eastern Ghat mountain range, with a mere population of 1600, this place will surely turn out to be one of the most exciting weekend trip of yours.

How to reach :
Howrah Yesvantapur Express/2863 (departs @ 20:35 from Howrah and reaches Berhampur @ 05:45) and Howrah Chennai Superfast Mail/2839 (departs @ 23:45 from Howrah and reaches Berhampur @ 09:00) are the best trains for weekend tourists. Vetnai is 50km away from Berhampur and one can easily hire a car or an auto to Vetnai.

Accomodation:
Vetnai is still a virgin tourist spot and one has to stay at nearby places like Berhampur or Balugaon. Berhampur has a wide variety of hotels of various range.

Returning:
And if have to come back and attend your class or office again on Monday, the above mentioned couple of trains are going to be your best pick again. While  Yesvantapur Howrah Express/2864 (departs @ 20:15 from Berhampur and reaches Howrah @ 06:10),  Chennai Howrah Superfast Mail/2840 (departs @ 10:45 from Berhampur and reaches Howrah @ 04:00)

Indian women and cricket

What does cricket mean to an ordinary Indian woman? A game on which her husband/ boyfriend hooks to and she is left with no other choice but to join her partner in watching twenty-two unknown men running hither and thither after a ball? Or does it mean oggling on real life heroes who do not get multiple chances like the movie stars? Well these are the notions that generally men have about “women and cricket” but there is also a huge chunk of female population who are genuinely interested in cricket and knows nothing less than her male partner about cricket!

Other than Anjum Chopra and Diana Eduljee ( and if you consider Mandira Bedi to be one!) we can hardly see ladies coming upfront and sharing their knowledge and views on cricket. We have so many women cricketers, though most of their communication skills are questionable but dont forget there are also zillions of male cricketers who had terrible communication skills but with proper grooming and exposure they have all turned into Karan Thapars of Indian cricket!

So why dont we train our women cricketers as well. Or is it the male chauvinistic world who does not want to listen to women experts, especially on a game which they feel solely belongs to the “man”kind.

So being a few months away from the World Cup 2011 are all we women of India gearing up for yet another male celebration in India where we will see male cricketers, male cricket administrators, male experts all speaking and bonding over cricket? Why do our countrymen forget that even we women grew up watching cricket alongside our fathers and uncles and listening to Tony Greigs and Geoffery Boycotts. Even we have a fair idea about leg-byes, off-sides and hit wickets. Even we have prayed ardently to God during nail-biting matches. Still no one asks our opinion after a match. How long will cricket be only a gentleman's game?