09 December,2009 08:12 AM IST | | Qasim Mehdi
Apne Dada ko bhoole toh nahin? That's what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly asked India when he featured in an advertisement of a cola company after being dropped from the national squad. I'm sure we might not have forgotten him then but with passing time, especially after his era being brought to an abrupt end, Dada's achievements and service to Indian cricket got washed out from our minds.
Soon, we switched loyalties to Dhoni, the emerging superstar of the game who awed every individual of this cricket crazy nation with his aggressive batting style. With one magnificent inning following another, he became one of the most popular cricketers our country had ever produced. When he was awarded with the captaincy, he guided Team India to numerous victories, including the ICC T-20 Championship and brought unexpected glory to the country.u00a0
Just last week, his team reached the number 1 ranking in ICC Test rating, a feat that we accomplished after playing the gentleman's game for over seven decades.
Like every Indian, I too was proud of this achievement.
However, somewhere in my heart, I missed Dada, who unlike Dhoni, was solely responsible for the remarkable transformation of an underu2013confident team to a team that stood second in the 2003 World Cup. I missed the Tiger of Bengal, who not like a bully (Dada) but as an elder brother (which is Dada in Marathi) groomed, encouraged and inspired raw talent like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Dhoni to be what they are now. I missed Dada, who promoted Virendra Sehwag from the middle order to the opening slot as the position suited his batting style the best.
These were the players who made us proud. However, we got so occupied with celebrating our No. 1 ranking, that we forgot the Prince of Kolkata who had envisioned and shaped this team of champions. Not just media and cricket fans but also the ones whom he had discovered, preferred not to speak about the man who had faith in them during their poor performaces. Sadly, but yes, you have been forgotten Dada.
