Moving On ....

No friends, the current mania of quitting blogville hasn’t caught up with me; it’s just that, of late, a lot of people who affect me someway or the other are moving on in their lives. In the past few weeks; I was shocked & saddened at least 4-5 times by the unexpected avowals of people quitting blogging; jobs and cricketing careers. Believe me; this is creating a feeling of emptiness. The least I can say that all of you will surely be missed and wish you all good luck with the future endeavors.

The subsequent part of this post is my diminutive tribute to the charismatic Sourav Ganguly and the altruistic Anil Kumble; two of the very few cricketing legends of my generation who decided to end their careers. So, people who are averse to cricket can skip the below unexciting and emotional blabber :)



Yesterday, India won the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy... by beating the hard nosed Aussies (not the Aussie countrymen per se ... but their cricket team for sure) by a thumping 2-0 margin ... Any other day such an astounding drubbing would have meant paramount pleasure and tremendous exultation ... But, with this test match being Dada’s last match and Jumbo already hanging his boots in the last test match; the victory celebrations were definitely sidelined by the emotional good-byes. This holds true for all the cricket lovers in India. Indian cricket has seen and end of an era with two of its prodigies calling it quits; whilst one can sense Jammy’s retirement too to be just around the corner.

Kumble, a fighter in true sense, a perfect gentlemen, an enviable team man, highest wicket taker for India and 3rd highest in the world, big hearted, a thinking bowler and someone whose commitment to the game was so infectious .... he will be remembered as someone who, never ever in his career spanning over 18 years, gave less than his 100% ...


Ganguly, controversy’s favorite child, most successful test captain for India, role model for the team, motivating and supportive leader (he did full justice to his nick name Dada), aggressive face of Indian Cricket, attacking batsman, affiliate of the most successful ODI opening partnership, god of off-side ... he will surely be remembered for decades to come for this contribution in taking Indian cricket forward.

Regardless of how the new look Indian team under MSD fares; Indian cricket will never be the same. I surely was lucky to be born in an era to witness the ‘god of off-side’ unleashing his sublime cover drives that effortlessly pierced packed off-side fields and the gallant leg spinner coming to take field for the sake of the team with his head wrapped in bandages owing to a broken jaw...

SG and AK, here is a heartfelt thank you to both of you for the gallant contribution and positive difference you have made to Indian cricket. God Bless!

~ hiren