When it comes to Kolkata and Cricket the name that strikes first will forever be "Sourav Ganguly", the Prince of Kolkata.
Fondly known as Dada, Sourav established himself as a player in the late 90s and soon became captain of the team. He was responsible for bringing many youth stars to the team. The likes of MS, Raina, Yuvi, Viru, Irfan made their debuts under him and hold high stature now. The most aggressive captain India has ever had , Ganguly has seen many highs and lows throughout his captaincy career.
Who would forget the Nat-west series Finals celebration and the series victory against the mighty OZs?
Who would also forget him being dropped from the team during the tenure of Greg Chappell? Who would forget India getting knocked out in the group stages of 2007 World-cup? The darkest days of Indian Cricket.
The bad omen never let him off in IPL too.
KKR having acquired DADA and many other International stars wanted to stamp their authority in the newly commenced league. It all started on a strong note with a stellar performance from BAZ in the inaugural match of the tourney. Every KKR fan had a thought that their prince would be lifting the trophy.But It was not to be.They finished in the bottom three for the first three seasons. Sourav was stripped off captaincy. The KKR management were gutted and eventually released him.They needed a charismatic leader, a special player and a young team to go forward.
Fondly known as Dada, Sourav established himself as a player in the late 90s and soon became captain of the team. He was responsible for bringing many youth stars to the team. The likes of MS, Raina, Yuvi, Viru, Irfan made their debuts under him and hold high stature now. The most aggressive captain India has ever had , Ganguly has seen many highs and lows throughout his captaincy career.
Who would forget the Nat-west series Finals celebration and the series victory against the mighty OZs?
Who would also forget him being dropped from the team during the tenure of Greg Chappell? Who would forget India getting knocked out in the group stages of 2007 World-cup? The darkest days of Indian Cricket.
The bad omen never let him off in IPL too.
KKR having acquired DADA and many other International stars wanted to stamp their authority in the newly commenced league. It all started on a strong note with a stellar performance from BAZ in the inaugural match of the tourney. Every KKR fan had a thought that their prince would be lifting the trophy.But It was not to be.They finished in the bottom three for the first three seasons. Sourav was stripped off captaincy. The KKR management were gutted and eventually released him.They needed a charismatic leader, a special player and a young team to go forward.
In the 2011 auctions, the KKR management spent a whopping sum of 13 Crores (the highest for a player then) to acquire the services of Gautam Gambhir.
So, Who was Gautam Gambhir? What has he achieved till that point? Does he deserve to be the captain of our team? Is he the apt replacement for someone like Dada? All these questions were raised from KKR fans.
A not so T20 player bought for such a huge sum, Gauti has captained the Delhi state team but hasn't had any international captaincy experience till then..He has had his best of days between 2007-2011.During that period he had won 2 world cups,awarded the best test player of the year in 2009 (not to forget the 11 hr marathon innings in Napier), smashed 1000+ runs in a calendar year in tests in 2008, scored runs all over the world and finally won the prestigious Arjuna Award .He had attained a stature of a legend. There was still a doubt on his leadership qualities though.
But what followed next is history! KKR never failed to make it to the playoffs barring two seasons.They were crowned champions in 2012 and 2014. Gauti joined Dhoni in becoming the most succesful IPL captain by winning 2 IPL trophies. He led the team with courage and aggression. Gambhir was the name in the lips of all the KKR fans. They loved him. They saw their Prince in him. SRK the team Owner was awestruck by Gauti's accomplishments.
They almost went to the wire in 2016 and 2017 but could not make through . Amidst all what stood tall was their stupendous captain and his troops. His IPL graph was always going up since he joined KKR. But he was not able to replicate that form into the international arena.There was a significant dip in form after 2012. He was no more a certainty in ODIs. Dhoni's rotation policy had an effect on him. It also affected his test form when he was a gift wrapped wicket for England and Australia in 2015 .As a result India lost 8 tests in a row and soon he was dropped form all the squads .
He gave his best to come back to the team. He played the Ranji Trophy and scored big on occasions. He got a short-lived recall to the side which lasted just 4 innings in 2016. Still he never wanted to give up. He tried hard and failed miserably. One last chance was up for grabs when he was picked by his home team Delhi Daredevils in 2018 auction.
But!!
Gambhir dropped himself from the team after just 6 games.
That moment made him realize "The Time was over".He was depressed, haunted and wanted to call it a day.
On Decemeber 3 2018, Gambhir announced that he was going to retire and the Ranji match against Andhra was going to be his last. The Retirement Speech made the fans motionless. His final Ranji match attracted huge crowds. Fittingly Gambhir scored a hundred and made the fans happy.
Unfortunately he did not get an opportunity to lead the Indian team. But he is one of the best captains in the game.He has also had many on-field banters which made him infamous but that's his nature. He has been a dedicated servant to the game.
Yes,Gautam Gambhir has seen many lows and highs during his playing days.But he forever ll remain one of the best openers the country has produced. He had the aggression of Sehwag, calmness of Dravid, class of Sachin , elegance of Laxman , bravery of Ganguly. He has fans all round the world even today. He might have played for Delhi, but KKR and Edengardens define him.
Kolkata is his adopted city and he is Kolkata's
"ADOPTED PRINCE"
So, Who was Gautam Gambhir? What has he achieved till that point? Does he deserve to be the captain of our team? Is he the apt replacement for someone like Dada? All these questions were raised from KKR fans.
A not so T20 player bought for such a huge sum, Gauti has captained the Delhi state team but hasn't had any international captaincy experience till then..He has had his best of days between 2007-2011.During that period he had won 2 world cups,awarded the best test player of the year in 2009 (not to forget the 11 hr marathon innings in Napier), smashed 1000+ runs in a calendar year in tests in 2008, scored runs all over the world and finally won the prestigious Arjuna Award .He had attained a stature of a legend. There was still a doubt on his leadership qualities though.
But what followed next is history! KKR never failed to make it to the playoffs barring two seasons.They were crowned champions in 2012 and 2014. Gauti joined Dhoni in becoming the most succesful IPL captain by winning 2 IPL trophies. He led the team with courage and aggression. Gambhir was the name in the lips of all the KKR fans. They loved him. They saw their Prince in him. SRK the team Owner was awestruck by Gauti's accomplishments.
They almost went to the wire in 2016 and 2017 but could not make through . Amidst all what stood tall was their stupendous captain and his troops. His IPL graph was always going up since he joined KKR. But he was not able to replicate that form into the international arena.There was a significant dip in form after 2012. He was no more a certainty in ODIs. Dhoni's rotation policy had an effect on him. It also affected his test form when he was a gift wrapped wicket for England and Australia in 2015 .As a result India lost 8 tests in a row and soon he was dropped form all the squads .
He gave his best to come back to the team. He played the Ranji Trophy and scored big on occasions. He got a short-lived recall to the side which lasted just 4 innings in 2016. Still he never wanted to give up. He tried hard and failed miserably. One last chance was up for grabs when he was picked by his home team Delhi Daredevils in 2018 auction.
But!!
Gambhir dropped himself from the team after just 6 games.
That moment made him realize "The Time was over".He was depressed, haunted and wanted to call it a day.
On Decemeber 3 2018, Gambhir announced that he was going to retire and the Ranji match against Andhra was going to be his last. The Retirement Speech made the fans motionless. His final Ranji match attracted huge crowds. Fittingly Gambhir scored a hundred and made the fans happy.
Unfortunately he did not get an opportunity to lead the Indian team. But he is one of the best captains in the game.He has also had many on-field banters which made him infamous but that's his nature. He has been a dedicated servant to the game.
Yes,Gautam Gambhir has seen many lows and highs during his playing days.But he forever ll remain one of the best openers the country has produced. He had the aggression of Sehwag, calmness of Dravid, class of Sachin , elegance of Laxman , bravery of Ganguly. He has fans all round the world even today. He might have played for Delhi, but KKR and Edengardens define him.
Kolkata is his adopted city and he is Kolkata's
"ADOPTED PRINCE"
