An Off/On relationship

Back in the days when people switched their televisions off the moment the Master was given out, he stepped into our imagination: not as a force but more of a mere symbol of a wild spirit. His arrogance it was perhaps, but some felt he was rightly punished. If the Master was, will always be, the God's chosen one, then he was surely the Prince.  How ironic it is then that he answered (shall I say silenced?) that mighty smiter, at his first chance, at the Lord's own home?

Back in those days one would talk family with a relative only after all details of Kumble's ten-wicket haul or even Jadeja taking an awesome catch were exhausted. Back then I always thought of Ganguly as my idol, more out of a sense of a contest with those cousins that hung Sachin's posters in their rooms than anything else. He was the gutsy southpaw to Sachin's dexterous glory. But to be honest, once that moment of indecision gave way absolute fandom I must say there was no regret. Those flourishing shots on the off, those sixers hit off Muttaiah straight to the pavilion.... The 183-run knock at Old Trafford with Muttaiah crushed absolutely.The wining knock at Dhaka against Pakistan in the finals of the Independence cup. Absolute showdown at Toronto winning MoM in 4 out of 5 matches. Those countless, mindblowing  partnerships with the Master himself...  Leading India to the finals of the 2003 World Cup (PU exams on the cards but who cared?). And oh yes! the Natwest final.   Ah, bliss....

I remember trading Center-fresh cards with his picture on it with money "stolen" from my "Hundi",  getting  that autographed bat they gave with a pack or two of Milo. In all honesty I would have traded god-knows-what for THE "rare" flip book showing Sourav hitting a six over long-off in the finals of the Independence cup, that they gave away with a Coca-cola party pack (then sold at Rs.35 i think and the flip-book was a combi-pack which when flipped from the other end showed Srinath rattling the middle stumps with a dazed bangladeshi batsman looking on).

If cricket were a lady, Ganguly would probably try to woo her than worship. He wasn't ordinary by any measure. His ruthless punishment of anyhting pitched outside off alone would merit his title of a master craftsman. And it wasn't always the brutal blow, many a times being a gentle push or a delicate nudge would reach the ropes  no matter what the number of men standing between slip and gully ( only Ganguly could slip the ball to the fence through the ganged-gully,  would that be atleast a bad pun?). One has to admit though that he was blind to anything that moved behind his thighs or above his chest. Despite such shortfalls ... I think Browning sums it up best for me: 

Ah, but a man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

TotalTrivia:

Dhoni asked Ganguly to captain the side for the last 8 overs bowled today ( 7 overs and 2 balls, to be precise) as a farewell gesture. Incidentally, exactly 8 years ago Ganguly had assumed the captaincy of the Indian Test side.