There’s One Thing The King Of Comebacks, Sourav Ganguly Taught Us – To Never Give Up

You remember the time you thought about giving up because it was too hard?

Being a sensitive kid myself, the never-say-die attitude preached by Sourav Ganguly has helped me to fight back in life. It is because of him I have learnt to never give up. Dada has not only changed the face of Indian cricket but also the lives of millions of his followers.

Remember the famous Pepsi advertisement where he says, ‘Main aapka Dada. Aap bhule toh nahin?’

His life has revolved mostly around 3 C’s – cricket, controversy and comebacks. The rest is history.

As you prepare for 2016, take a moment and look back at Dada’s incredible comeback story. This should renew your faith that indeed comebacks are possible.

With a majestic 131 on debut at Lords, he announced his arrival into the international cricket in style.

 

Sourav Ganguly took the captaincy at a time when Indians decided not to watch cricket anymore with the feeling of being cheated.

 

The 2000 match-fixing scandal transformed Indian cricket into a puff of dust.

But this man with some divine sense of grit transformed the whole system.

 

He led India to a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 series triumph against Australia in 2001.

 

Standing on the Lord’s balcony, Ganguly delivered the mother of all tit-for-tats in 2002.

Who can forget Flintoff charged topless around the Wankhede Stadium a few months earlier? This act shows how much he was hurt by that defeat and how eager he was to give it back to them.

 

Dada took India to the 2003 WC Final on a pacy South African wicket.

 

He almost ruined Steve Waugh’s farewell series.

A 1-1 stalemate against the mighty Australia meant India retained the Border-Gavaskar series in 2003-04.

 

In 2004, Dada and his troops beat Pakistan 2-1. India claimed their first series victory overseas in more than a decade.

 

Soon, Greg Chappell picked up a fight with Ganguly in 2005.

Only one side could win.

 

After several episodes of meetings and power-politics, it was Dada who was sacked.

 

The whole of India were outraged.

Railway lines and roads were blocked, national politicians protested at the treatment of ‘The Prince of Calcutta’.

 

The Indian selectors told him to play domestic cricket over Christmas to get into ‘form’.

 

To which he responded by missing Bengal’s two first-class games.

 

A ‘lovely’ quote followed from the new secretary of BCCI, Niranjan Shah: ‘What can we do if he does not play?’

 

Ganguly took up the challenge, held his peace, worked on his fitness and believed he still has some cricket left in him.

 

He came back, scored a formidable 51* in a low-scoring first test against South Africa and helped India win the match.

 

India lost the series, but Ganguly topped the batting charts with 214 runs in 3 matches.

 

The Bengal Tiger was brought back into the ODI team against West Indies.

Scored a fantastic 98 in his comeback match.

 

He top scored for India in the 2007 WC with 160 runs in 3 matches.

 

Suddenly Dada was in the form of his life as he scored a monumental 239 against Pakistan.

 

In 2008, he walked off into the sunset after more than a decade in international cricket.

 

If there is one thing he loved, it was proving people wrong.

 

‘The Comeback King’ is simply outstanding at everything he does.

 

His life has been defined by comebacks, every time people have written him off, he has risen from the ashes just like a phoenix.

He taught me you can be the best no matter what people say. He taught us several things.

The lessons of Dadagiri will always be remembered. We miss you, Dada. 🙂

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