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By Syed Ahsan Ali

There have been some big names that have been playing in the last decade or so. Some of them have recently retired while some of them are still hanging in there. All of them have been contemporaries of Sourav Chandidas Ganguly and deserve to be mentioned here such as Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Inzamam-ul-haq and several others who have played against this great Indian batsman. But I can’t think of anybody among those great names and many who are still playing the game when it comes to passing so many tests in their pomp as Ganguly has done so. The southpaw has to do it to sustain himself in the game. Asian cricket has been ruthless with their heroes. There is nothing new about it. We usually ask questions about their abilities even after years of services which no other cricketing culture does even to their youngsters. Ganguly is one living proof of that behavior. And Asian greats keep playing their best parts out of fear of obliviousness.

Today Ganguly’s name gets even bigger with the lore of Greg Chappell attached with him. His inspiring comeback seems to be out of the pages of some motivating Hollywood flick. Three hundred ODI appearances with huge amount of runs with umpteenth match winning innings, the tag of most successful skipper of Indian cricket and still found it tough to prove his honesty and passion for the Indian team. He has been called despot. He was claimed to be the Dividing factor in the Indian camp. He has been looked up by outsiders as a Manipulator to assure his control over the affairs of a young team. And now his picture is all over national newspapers paying tributes to his skill, grit and perseverance over the years to serve Indian cricket. But can’t we do without it? Aren’t we better off without being disrespected to our real-life heroes?

Many of us cricket writers and experts on the game thought that, when Dada confronted the Great Australian Greg Chappell and insisted to get back in the game, one thought that he was fighting a lost cause and that he was not good enough to win matches for his team. We all were asking for his retirement because he was going through a lean patch. And now he suddenly becomes the national hero, role model for Indian cricketers to achieve what they want to achieve in their lives.

We are fortunate to have figures like Ganguly around, someone who is an epitome of patience and persistence, but on the hindsight aren’t we giving our youngsters a lesson that you have to fight every inch of your life even if you become a Ganguly or a Sachin? There can be no Steve Waughs, Shane Warnes or Glenn McGraths here in India or Pakistan who had left the game holding their heads high. Their people created an occasion for them to make their departures as Greats as their careers were.

Aussies or Englishmen are not greater cricketers than Indians or Pakistanis. I do not see any real distance when we compare their skill, class and stature in the game. But there is a huge difference when we look at the handling of our heroes and their heroes. We spent millions and trillions on improving the game and at the same time maltreat our real heroes, so what would bring youngsters to the game, dollars or hurting heroes? Games run by passion and by role models. We cannot reap potato from the seed of tomato. By insulting our heroes such as Ganguly, we are ruining the game.

Today, when the whole world is writing, praising and idolizing Ganguly. I want to say sorry to Dada that we failed to give the amount of respect to you what you really deserve. I wish there would be no Ganguly in years to come who has to prove his innocence for the crime which he never committed. I wish we can return those precious years of Ganguly to him which he had lost because of a foreign accuser. If India is winning Test matches today, then it is all because of Dada who blew an air of self-pride and fighting spirit in Indian cricket. He let them believe that they can look right in the eyes of even the Aussie bullies. But after those glorious achievements we left you stranded in the desert of despondency and misery. We are Sorry Dada!

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