But this time his comeback is not getting the kind of universal support he got when he made his famous comeback to the Indian team. A lot of voices are asking the question – Why? Why he wants to play in IPL so desperately? What is the point in playing for a team which needs to win all its remaining matches to even qualify for the semis? And finally,the question which is being asked the most - Why can’t he retire gracefully?
I will come to the “retire gracefully” part first. I always find it strange when people ask great players why they are not retiring. In fact, there is a clichéd saying in cricket that players should retire when they are being asked why, rather than why not. To be frank, I find this a piece of bull s***. One of the greatest qualities of any sportsman, apart from talent, is the never-say-die spirit, the ability to fight back from any situation. Ganguly has that in abundance. When he took over the captaincy, Indian cricket was in shambles, thanks to the match fixing controversy. It was his fighting spirit that enabled him to fight against all odds and build a team which made it to the 2003 world cup final. It was his fighting sprit which enabled him to make a comeback into the national team when most so-called experts thought his playing days were over. When we so much admired his never-say-die attitude then, how can we expect it to suddenly vanish? If he was to “retire gracefully” now, he would have never built a world class team; he would have never made the glorious comeback to the Indian team; he would have never become one of the fines Indian captains of all time.
It would be naïve for anyone to think that Ganguly is doing all this for money. With the kind of respect and stature he has, I am sure he can easily earn much more money through other means. He is desperate to play in IPL as he has a point to prove. Kolkata Knight Riders have been the laughing stock of IPL for the past couple of years and as captain and a senior player in the team, a fair share of blame must go to Ganguly. Ganguly wants to set right the things. He wants to show his critics that he still has the firepower to hit those sixes over long on and long off; he can still find gaps in offside no matter how heavily guarded it is; as a leader of the team, if not the captain, he can still inspire youngsters to give their 110%.
At 38, I don’t know if Ganguly can still weave his magic, but what a moment it will be if he can. After all, isn’t it what sports is all about? To continuously challenge oneself without the fear of failure.
