Saurav's swansong, anyone?

Change, whether for god or bad, often comes along with some kind of excitement. And though its common for people to become cynical at times and coin one of those timelines lines, “The more things change, the more they remain the same”, quite often a ‘change of guard’ does bring with itself a whole new set of, well, changes!

As the Indian cricket board began consolidating its position as the richest and the most powerful board in the new millennium, changes did take place across the pile. The board HQ started looking a lot more plush, the team finally moved towards a ‘graded pay system’, more people specialized in certain key areas of interest started to accompany the team and suddenly the word ‘professionalism’ wasn’t meant to be restricted for the Australian team only! Even as far as the results are concerned, the first major strides that the ‘Men in Blue’ started taking towards becoming the No. 1 team in the world by consistently challenging the Aussies were taken in the new millennium, i.e somewhere in 2000-01.

And as we embrace the latest change of guard, of the 5 wise men who’ll decide upon the team to compete against our modern-day arch-rivals (to win the Border-Gavaskar trophy), its worth noting that the fate of a very proud man hangs in balance, and how! A man who, truth be told, was (arguably) that one person who almost single-handedly instilled that raw self-belief in the Indian team; that they were good enough to challenge the might of the Australians. 7.5 years ago, Saurav Ganguly’s credentials as a skipper suddenly changed from ‘good’ to ‘great’ courtesy a ‘never-to-be-forgotten’ Test series against Steve Waugh’s all-conquering team. And now, Kris Srikkanth and his new set of friends, will in a few hours decide whether the Dada would be allowed to retire on a high!

Yes, if things are to be believed, this latest ‘change’ too will come with its share of plusses. Apparently, champion players are now going to given the choice of exiting the game gracefully and in style [An Australian thing (Steve Waugh’s farewell) once again becoming a role model of sorts]. If this were to be true, it would really be one of the best things to have happened to Indian cricket as Asians in particular have had a long history of champion sportsmen/women quitting the game on a grumpy note. (We certainly don’t want any more Kapil Dev kind-of exits, do we?) And this new practice now provides the Fab 5, a perfect opportunity to bow out with their honour intact.

Saurav, the fallguy? Not again! Doesn’t he have “atleast two more years left”? Only recently he scored a career-best 239! Well, one can talk about at length on stats and numbers and all that. And yet, people who know and understand the game really well would tell you that averages and all those details in general only tell you a part of the story. The writing’s been there on the wall for quite some time now and despite his heroics in South Africa and against Pakistan at home, India’s finest lefthander was always going to be the 1st man on whom the inevitable axe was about to fall. If reports are to be believed, even the great man’s steely will seems to have given up now and he might end up announcing his retirement should his name not feature in the list that would be announced in a few hours from now.

My gut feeling, however, says that this new “Choose your farewell” strategy adopted by the Indian Board/Selectors means that Saurav will get to play one last time! I really wont be surprised if that were to be the case and if logic were to say that he be shown the door with immediate effect, we all know that stranger things have happened. And to be honest, for once, I wont be complaining too much either. Coz its not that a Mohammad Kaif or even a Badrinath for that matter has proven credentials on the international stage. And when you have an opportunity to sign off one of the true legends of the Sport and not just Indian cricket in a very very honorable manner, why not accord him that respect? Infact, it’s the least we could do for our heroes.

Way back on the 6th of Jan, 2004, when Steve Waugh was receiving that magnificent ovation at the SCG, I remember the man in question coming live on TV and saying that ‘THIS’ is what you play for! People appreciating that you gave it all for the game and giving you a reception to die for. Will Nagpur get that opportunity to do to Saurav Chandidas Ganguly what Sydney did for Stephen Rodger Waugh?

In a few hours from now, we shall know!