Late Swinging Yorker!!

Just a couple of days ago we had mentioned in our article about the princely come back of our Dada Saurav Ganguly. Joyful was the moment even as the news was flashed about the inclusion of Dada in the Test Series against Australia.

Suddenly the entire joy has turned down to sorrow as we hear yet shocking news.
Yes it’s rather hard and surprising to believe that Saurav Chandidas Ganguly has announced his retirement and that this will be his last series.
Retirement was there in the mind of dada but only he knew when its coming and he has chosen non other than the Border – Gavaskar trophy for his retirement.
It’s a celebration time in Bengal this time of the year for the Kali Pooja which is their biggest festival. I am very sure that the new s of retirement will bring certain amount of sorrow in Bengal, in fact in entire India for that matter.

This flamboyant south paw made his ODI debut in Brisbane on Jan 11 1992 against West Indies, on contrast he made his Test debut in England on 20th June 1996 against England and there he scoured two centuries in his debut match.

He played his last ODI against Pakistan in Gwalior on 15th November 2007.

The quality of the good players is that he knows when to retire. As famously said: “Its good to retire when people ask why retire, rather than why not?”

Same kind of jolt received by the Australians when Adam Gilchrist had announced his retirement from the test side while India had toured and played his last match there. Only god knows why players prefer choosing the Border Gavaskar Trophy to retire? I think this can be only a matter of coincidence.

The best ever compliment that Dada would have got was “On the off side, the one next best to god is Ganguly’ These were the famous word of Mr. Dependable Wall Rahul Dravid.

Finally it’s entirely the player’s decision and one has to respect it. Dada, all the best for your future and hope you will silence your critics in the last few matches of yours before you retire!!


Article by Shams& Wags.

Miles And Smiles

Hello Readers, We know many of you might have followed 4 day match against Board President XI in Hyderabad. The match ended in draw but there were more smiles in Indian side and worries in Oz’s camp.
Had the selection been done on 2nd Oct’08 instead of 1st for the early two tests, the picture would look different. Only player who’ve been picked up in Test squad S.Badrinath failed in both innings. Rise and shine time for Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma in first innings as they both hit 105 each to put BP XI in strong position. With the likes of Kumble and Bhajji as a spin attack very little chances are left for other spinners to get into probable for selection. Yet Piyush Chawla & Pragyan Ojha bowled well against Oz’s and shared 8 wickets between them to bundle out Aussies cheaply in first innings. Punter’s bad patch in Indian soil continued. Only brave innings was played by Mike Hussey who scored century and some batting braveness for Stuart Clarke in lower order. Second innings brings more smiles for BP XI as captain Yuvraj Singh made century while Jaffer missed the same with 7 runs.
Aussies really wouldn’t have expected the worst news in the form of there main attacking spinner Bryce McGain being ruled out of entire series due to shoulder injury. The other spinner Kreja who also came with dream of making Test debut alongside McGain now has real chance to be in playing eleven. Aussies have also called all-rounder Cameron White who has performed really well in domestic circuit for them to join the squad. His leg spin can be bit handy apart from giving strength to batting lower down the order.
With just 3 days to go for the first test in Bangalore (now Bangaluru) playing conditions look pretty much similar to what we had in Hyderabad during practice match.Looking at the weather conditions captain Kumble will certainly be playing with 2 seamers and 2 spinners with long batting line up we have.
Shams & Wags’s probable XI for the Test are-
India – Anil Kumble(Capt.),V.Sehwag, G.Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,Sourav Ganguly,VVS Laxman, M S Dhoni (VC & wk),Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan,Ishant Sharma,Munaf Patel (12th man).
Australia – Ricky Ponting (Capt.), M Hayden, Phil Jacques, S Katich, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, B Haddin, Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke, M Johnson, Kreja, Watson (12th man)

Article By Shams & Wags

Princely Comeback!!

Need of the hour is to take a leaf out of Dada’s book. Even if the odds are heavily stacked against your favor and even if the fat lady does not sing for you, one must definitely learn from Saurav Ganguly to how to keep focusing on the come back.
All started in the early 90's where he was a part of the tour down under. He was the 12th man and was asked to carry drink and towel. He belongs to the Royal family and at that point in time he refused to carry drinks which made him pay the price of being dropped of the squad. As one would agree, time works as a healer, he made his test debut in 1996 along side Rahul Dravid.Both of them scored magnificently and at that time itself they announced their arrival to the test arena Ganguly went on to make century in his century where as Dravid fell short of 4 runs.
Time and again he has found himself under an axe and there are always fingers pointing towards his selection. For a person who has been a thorn in the arms of Steve Waugh who considers him as an arrogant captain, it’s a cardinal sin to keep dropping him out of the squad. Dada exactly knew that the Australians do not get bogged down unless some one gets under their skin which is what he exactly did.


The title ‘Dada’ which is given to him means Big Brother is apt as he has been an instrumental force in building the young team and that he has been by the side of the youngsters and has always shown faith in them.
Seems Steve Waugh would have taken the slang meaning of Dada which means a bully or a Goon that’s why he has always criticised him.

He is one of the members of the Fab four of Indian Team. Records speak volume for him. He has been a player who has played well in both the formats of the games

Despite the fact that every one failed to score in the series against Sri Lanka, he was the first person to be axed out of the team. He has been dropped out of the test side despite of scoring decent number of runs if not scoring heavily. In the event of the failure, people start talking that he is not fit for playing and that the youngster should be given a chance ahead.
Sometimes one feels that the selectors have some vested interest in dropping him out of the squad. One should not forget that he has won India many matches under his captainship both in India and abroad.


Having said every thing, one also has to agree the fact that nothing can be taken for granted and hard work and perseverance is the name of he game if one wants to be a part of it. At the same time,let your performance speak volume rather than making noise.I think this is what is working for Dada as he has been considered in the Squad of 15 member for the action packed India- Australia Border Gavaskar series.