Impact of Saurav Ganguly is far beyond cricket. Saurav Ganguly has been one of the most successful captains India has ever seen. He was a great batsmen and good bowler and mentor to many young players.
As a captain, he is an inspiration to the whole country. He used to lead from the front, he was a real tiger on the field and his aggression was felt both on the field and off the field. Nobody can forget the Natwest trophy final when he took off his shirt in lords. At that moment he was aggression personified.
I remember the time when Australia under the leadership of Steve waugh came to India. they were on a winning streak on 16 matches before coming to India and then what happened is history. Before that series people hardly knew who was laxman or harbhajan. Two greatest cricketers of all time were born because of that series. Under the captancy of Saurav Ganguly, India stopped the winning streak of the most deadliest Australian team which has ever played.
Now, if we discuss his batting then the lines used by Rahul Dravid, another great Indian batsmen and captain, perfectly sums it up. He said "In off side, first there is god then there is Saurav ganguly". His cover drives were so beautiful that it made everyone feel that it is impossible to hit something like that. People used to pack the off side with fielders but he still used to find the gaps among them.
He was also clean hitter. He loved hitting sixes to spinners and left arm spinners were his favorite. He sometimes used to hit sixes which used to go out of the stadium. I don't think anyone who have watched those sixes can forget them.
He went through a tough time in his career when Greg Chappel became the Indian coach. Saurav Ganguly was not given a chance in the team but he scored runs in the domestic circuit an came back into the team. After his comeback he had a dream run, he even scored a double century, which was a memorable innings.
I think the love for the game is what kept him going even in the down days. He was the comeback man. He made a comeback to the Indian team after he was neglected during 90's. He again made a comeback when he was dropped from the Test captaincy after India came back winning the test series in Zimbabwe and he has scored good runs in it.
He was always a person with character. He never spoke ill about anyone and was a true gentleman. He made people love the game, there were many who used to watch cricket just to watch his batting. I confess I used to switch off the TV when he used to get out.
There is so many things to learn from his professional life, most important thing among them is to never give up. He was a true fighter and he used to take every challenge head on.
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