My Childhood died today

i Came across this on Orkut: Probably the Biggest fan of Sourav Ganguly speaks his mind…

Our great dada is retiring and the void which has created will never be filled.. I want to congratulate dada for his fantastic career, he was a great player and was a very inspirational leader. The world cricket will remember him for his sheer determination and never say die attitude.. To be very honest with u i m going through very ambiguous feeling.. I m both happy and sad.. I m happy for dada who has had a memorable last test series.. Not many cricketers get such a chance to have their farewell … I want to thank dada for whatever he has done for me…

FRIENDS, on this occasion I want to tell u the story of a 10 year old boy.. A boy who was considered to be dumb, very quiet, reserved. People never missed a chance to make fun of that guy.. Whenever he tried to do something there were always many guys around to pull his legs.. No one understood him.. A boy who seriously had no self-confidence.. Teachers had already told his parents that ur son wont be able to do anything in life..

He used to sit quietly without saying a word and used to wonder that he is a big loser in life.. Nobody had any sympathy for him.. Perhaps he was too young to do anything abt it. In year 1996, it was time when had just completed his 5th standard examination and had summer vacations, he was watching a cricket match by chance..although he had no interest in cricket wat so ever then. The 1st test was over and 1 of the middle order batsman had to go back home for some personal reasons.. Indian think-tank had to play someone else in the playing 11 and that some1 was none other that Sourav Ganguly.

That boy observed that there was lots and lots of speculation abt his place.. Few of the team members said that he made it to the side becoz of regional quota.. Few of them said bengalis r soft enough to play cricket.. Some of them said that he just cant score runs in the leg side.. and some said he doesnt have an attitude to play for India as he refused to carry drinks on the field in 1992…

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Farewell Anil, You Rocked!

For as long as I remember watching cricket, I have seen you play, and it’s a proud, happy and in a way a sad moment today as I hear that you will no longer be seen doing the heroics that we have witnessed for almost two decades now.

Till today morning I was thinking about dada’s last tour and fast approaching climax; in the back of my mind I had a feeling that we would hear about The Anil Kumble retire soon aswell … But never imagined it would come so soon.

Past 18 years have been glorious for Indian Cricket. The sport has took off like a rocket and is highly commercial today. This makes me respect our seniors who came and took up this challenge when there wasn’t so much money in the sport! They made the strong foundation on which our MSD’s and Ghambir’s are walking on.

The celebrations are on, news channels get some more fizz and we sit back and prepare for Dada’s turn. Clearly in years to come, Cricket would not be what I was used to watching as a kid… Though I am not a big fan catching every series over by over!

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