Saturday, August 18, 2012

Sourav Ganguly - India's most Inspirational captain !


Born on 7th July, 1972 in Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly played for India for nearly 12 years. He was the captain of the Indian team for most part of his career ie; from 2000-2005 and he is considered by many as the most successful Indian captain. Sourav Ganguly's record as Indian captain is as follows 

Test :-   49 matches, 21 wins, 13 losses, 15 draws.
ODI :- 147 matches, 76 wins, 66 losses.

Under the leardership of Dada, India were joint winners of the Champions Trophy in SriLanka in 2002, India won the Natwest Trophy in England - a moment considered historic by many, India reached the final of the 2003 w'cup, India won a test match against Australia in Adelaide and leveled the series 1-1, India won a test match against England in Leeds again leveling the series 1-1 and the biggest of all, India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in Pakistan 2-1 in 2004.

But unfortunately, due to controversy and form, he was dropped from the team in 2005. But he still had the desire to make a comeback. He was determined enough to do so as he went back to domestic cricket and played for Bengal for one whole season. He went to English county cricket to gain some form back and finally, his dedication and commitment towards the game payed off. The day finally arrived when Dada got his second chance to play for India. On the tour of South Africa in 2006-2007 just before the w'cup, Dada was picked in the test team. Many considered that he would struggle in the bouncy pitches of south africa. But, he proved everyone wrong and eventually, he was the highest run scorer for India in that series. Since then Ganguly never looked back and he probably had the best of his time during the last two years of his career. In 2007, he was the highest run scorer for India in test matches and the second highest scorer for India in one dayers. In 2008, just before the test series against australia in India, Ganguly announced that it would be his last. N what a way it was to end a glorious career ! what else could he have asked for- India won the series 2-0 and Ganguly had a decent run with the bat scoring a century in Mohali and a brisk 89 in his last test at Nagpur.


This dedication and passion of Dada inspires me and the reason why he is my role model. In my opinion, he is truly an inspiration  not just for someone like me but for budding cricketers. He showed the world that if one is dedicated, committed and passionate enough to achieve what one wants to in life, one can gain success. Therefore, in my opinion, he remains one of the world's best players.

Sourav Ganguly plays for the Pune Warriors in the IPL (Indian Premier League). He is the captain of the franchise. Being a strong supporter and an avid Dada fan, I hope and pray that Dada gets another chance to play in the IPL in the 2013 season and like he has proved before, comes back with a bang !

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Sachin Tendulkar - The Greatest Batsman of all time !


Born on 24th april, 1973 in Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar remains the undisputed Champion of Cricket.





He began taking interest in the game when he was just 6 years old and was encouraged by his elder brother to pursue the sport. He began playing for the Indian team when he was just 16. He was one of the youngest players to be playing international cricket. He scored his first International century against England in 1990. His passion, commitment and dedication towards the game has been the talking point all through his career and this has eventually helped him in reaching and achieving great heights and breaking records. He captained India for a short period but later relinquished it as he felt that he needed to concentrate more on what he did the best for his team ie; scoring runs. Sourav Ganguly took over as captain and Sachin Tendulkar from there onwards proved to be unstoppable. Before the 2011 w'cup, Sachin had been part of five w'cups but never got a chance to taste a w'cup victory. That was his long standing dream- a w'cup win ! N finally, in 2011, in front of his home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India beat SriLanka in the final to be crowned World Champions bringing an end to a long standing desire of Sachin Tendulkar !

In 2012, Sachin created yet another record that no one had ever come close to achieving- 100 International centuries and the 100th one coming against Bangladesh in Dhaka during the Asia Cup 2012.

This was what Sachin had to quote after getting his 100th International century :-


" enjoy your game and chase your dreams " - Sachin Tendulkar . 
The Reason why he is considered a Genius and a Real Inspiration in the Cricketing world !

Sachin Tendulkar has annonced his retirement from the limited overs format of the game ie; one day cricket. He shall be remembered for not just for the records that he has surpassed and created but also, for the number of matches India has won due to his efforts. Not to forget the match against australia in Sharjah which according to me ranks among the BEST ! Sachin Tendulkar, the Greatest Batsman of all time is going to be missed in International One-Day cricket. He, however, would continue playing test matches. Looking forward to seeing him play and score many more runs in the longer format of the game.

His records speak for himself- shows the true Greatness of the Man who has shouldered responsibility of a billion for more than 20 years :-

463 matches, 18,426 runs, 96 half centuries and 49 centuries- Incredible !