Bingo! Yet again the IPL frenzy has lived up to its expectations of creating a buzz which no other event or phenomenon has created so consistently in the recent past. And with the recently concluded player auctions breaking new grounds, the buzz again was more so for non cricketing reasons rather than the in-field histrionics. So if the high billing fetched by Gambhirs, Pathans and Rohit Sharmas created a huge uproar than the big names like Lara, Gayle and Jayasurya remaining unsold till the end, almost generated a seismic wave of sorts. But undoubtedly the biggest drama of this IPL event has the Royal Bengal Snub, where in one of the most stylish left hander of the nation till date, also the most flamboyant captain of all times and undoubtedly the Brave heart of Indian cricketing history, Sourav 'DADA' Ganguly went unsold with not a single franchise (out of 10) bidding for him in the two day event. So is this a fair treatment on the part of the franchises? For a legend who was given the iconic status at the inception of IPL; For a master player who has scored almost 20,000 international runs; For a Captain who has changed the way India plays and takes on its rival on the cricket field; For a mentor who has nurtured champion players like Yuvraj, Zaheer and Bhajji; For a senior statesman who has been the team's (KKR) highest run getter and by far the best performer in IPL 1 & 3; For a swashbuckler who has been a better suited player in this format, at least in comparison to the likes of Dravid & Laxman; For a man who has been the identity and face of the Cricket Crazy land of Kolkata; is this is fair deal? On the face of it and on the factual grounds this definitely seems to be a selfish and an unfair treatment, but their surely is a flip side to this story too.
First of all this is a corporate driven event and when corporate entities are involved in the setup along with their million dollar investments, certainly they are here to win and not to please people or to soothe emotions. So if they don't see a value for investment with Ganguly, they are perfectly alright in their decision. If they feel that Ganguly's presence won't add to the team atmosphere or to the team's strength then Ganguly's laurels of the past count for nothing. And also if these franchises are here to make money, so are the players, certainly the retired players because whatever they have to prove on cricketing grounds they have done that on the international arena for past 10-15-20 years, naturally they here to make quick bucks. So sympathizing, criticizing, mourning or burning effigies (of the franchise owner) is all rubbish because the bottom line is, this isn't cricket this is pure business.
But why have the franchises chosen the likes of Dravid & Laxman over Ganguly, when undoubtedly Ganguly is a proven better performer in the shorter format? One lame reason can be that these two gentleman are still playing international cricket vis-a-vis Dada who has retired two years back. But it's a matter of common knowledge that the true reasons are beyond the boundaries of cricket grounds and are surely non-cricketing. Sourav's strong personality, once his strength has become the cause of his nemesis. We know that the former Indian Captain loves to lead from the front, so for the franchises who might have thought of roping in Dada might have feared the fact that if he is in the squad he has to be made the skipper. And with Ganguly in the team, the team will be build around him rather than him being a part of the team. His stardom, his personality or more so his ways are far more unfitting in the present day context. Throughout his career he has played and marshaled as a Prince, but now that his batting powers are only a shade of what they used to be say 3-4 years back, naturally he can't expect to still reap benefits on his past laurels. Undoubtedly, he is not a demolisher or a destructor who used to ruin bowler's careers few years back, so to not accommodate such a player is more of a prudent thing than a selfish one.
Bid or no bid, sold or unsold Ganguly is and will always remain a legend and a true champion of the game. But it's time that Dada himself starts accepting some facts which might be bitter in taste but will surely help him in keeping intact his legacy. That's what Anil Kumble did by retracting his name from the auction list and concentrating solely on the administrative side of things, though he could have easily been picked by any of the franchises but he was smart enough to foresee the writing on the wall and hanged his boots gracefully.Though this will remain a debatable issue but one thing that fans all across the nation need to do, is to tone down their mercurial instincts when it comes to handling such issues because every champion has to go one day to make way for a new champion.
Perspective: IPL snub aside, if Dada still wants to continue playing solely for cricketing reasons, he can continue representing Bengal in the domestic circuit but that might prove to be a far more unattractive and financially in viable alternative for him!
--
kin...
