Beyond DADAgiri

This time it's too strong a temptation to resist! After almost 2 months of retirement from blogging, I am back.

Indian Cricket is at the end of an era - the era of DADAgiri. The illustrious cricketer, one of the all time greats, India's top bet in ODIs ever only next to Sachin, Media's favourite, the Prince of Kolkata, DADA, Bengal Tiger, also known as Sourav Ganguly has finally declared his 12-year long innings. He is not just a cricketer but a living example of an exceptional fighter!

You love him or hate him, he will always be remembered as someone who left his deeeep impression on the landscape of Indian Cricket. He is the man who almost brought a renaissance after it had suffered a major blow by the match-fixing scandal. It's a cliche to mention that he is the one who was behind the regained unity of Indian Cricket Team. He is the man who is undisputedly the best captain, India has ever had in both versions of the game (records prove so). Rahul Dravid once said: "In off-side, first there is God, then there is Sourav Ganguly".


You must be wondering why I am making such a post at all. Well, the purpose is not just to show my blind-love for DADA but also to sum-up the learnings or the inspirations which we all can take from this man called Ganguly. (applicable even for his worst critics)

1) FIGHTER-to-the-core: The will to make a comeback even after being hit by a boulder on head.
2) No matter, who writes you off and how.. the internal strength and courage is just enough to counter everything.
3) Leadership lessons:
+ Fight for your team-mates, make them feel special and secured
+ Speak your mind out, be aggressive
- Lobbying harms in long-term
- Leading from the front is "must" to command team's respect
- The burden of leadership can never be a permanent excuse to defend the individual failures
4) The go-getter attitude, affinity to take challenges
5) Dictating the life on own terms; being in a position to call shots oneself
6) Self-Respect: No Compromises
7) Making the correct choices and not just the popular ones
8) The art of taking revenge(smooth, calm, impactful way) with a punch - refer to the Chappell saga
9) AGE no BAR: He has proved time and again, if politics is left aside, that he still is amongst the best. (refer to his batting average and performance of last 2 years)
10) Conviction to prove the merit: I will just say that this man, who was even discarded from the Irani Trophy squad citing reasons of age / performance, has slapped hard on the faces of the previous 5 wise men by not only hitting a century but also proving that he still represents the crème de la crème. And, I am sure the mark of the slap will remain on the faces for quite some time! :)

I am sure this man will continue to inspire many more junkies like me in the time to come!!

Hats off to DADA!

Sharma