Time to say TATA to DADA with respect

One of the hot topics this week has been the future "Fab Four" of the Indian Cricket Team. At least we now know that during the Border-Gavaskar series we will be bidding adieu to Sourav Ganguly aka Dada. I have to confess, I have never been a hard core fan of Ganguly. By that I mean I haven't supported him during his "rough patches". But you have to give it to the sheer determination of this guy for staying in the dark for a whole year and making one of the most inspiring comebacks in the history of sports. In his comeback year he scored the most runs by a Indian in that year, achieved his highest score in Tests, and was part of 2 series wins. So, why is everyone questioning his place all of a sudden? Is it because of that one failure in SriLanka, where he scored 96 runs from 6 innings? I don't think so. Like most Indians I feel it is more of a forced exit than a individual decision. I feel it is unfair for someone who has served BCCI for so long, not to be given the right reasons to quit the game. They cant tell that due to age he has slowed down. 5 years ago when he was the captain, he was not a inch faster than he is right now. He was never a good fielder, in fact he was and is a pathetic fielder. Unlike last time when he was dropped, he is told to quit for the wrong reasons. Age should never be a concern for an athlete, until he is performing at his peak. And for me Ganguly is batting at his best in last 1 year. There is a never seen before determination in his batting. Lets take the example of Lance Armstrong, according to me one of the greatest athletes to set foot on earth. He has decided to compete in the Tour at the age of 36. And this is no small team which he is coming into, he is coming into Astana, which contains 2006 tour winner. So, why is that in a country with such patriotic and fanatic fans of the game, do we treat those very people who have brought joy to our lives on numerous occasions with such disdain?

I also completely disagree with the concept of terminating a career with future in perspective. Let me put out the current scenario here. A upcoming player struggles against the system to make it to the national squad. By the time he is noticed in all the domestic games he is 25. By the time he is a permanent member in the starting eleven, he is 32. And when he just about turns 34, all the talk about the seniors start. So he will effectively get 2 years of cricket. And we are not talking about normal players. No. They will get far less to play. We are talking about greats, those who have changed the way people play the game. And I'm all the more ashamed to say that this seems to happen only in India.