Call it a day at 36…is in

This has been a rather demoralising week for me…Firstly for the me who is an ardent cricket fan and secondly for the me who is on the wrong side of the 30’s. The axe over the Fab 5 in Indian cricket is looming large ever more than before, of which 4 of them are contemporaries and 3 of them made their debuts the year my professional life was launched too, 1 hit a century (Saurav) on debut and the other a 95 (Dravid) and both went on to do very well. The axe finally fell on the one who hit a 100 on debut, Dada… We are a nation that celebrates the 25th anniversary of winning the cricket world cup with much pomp and splendour, when countries like Australia have made winning a habit that they don’t even remember the dates they won a ‘x’ or ‘y’ tournament. However when it comes to treating legendary players we tend to forget the past glory one has brought the country and go by one series where a new kid on the block bowled a funny ball with a couple of fingers and mesmerised the fab 4.
In a sport where the likes of CK Nayudu played at 62 his last Ranji Trophy, its hard to believe that 35 is already a time when people are expecting you to hang your boots / bat. Saurav was one of the best captains India has ever had, one will never forget the grit the determination and the arrogance. The first arrogant captain India has ever had, the first non middle class cricketer in modern India after the likes of Ranjitsingjis, Duleepsinghjis and Pataudis…Dada took on everyone, from the board to the rival captains and even the grounds men. One person who will breath easy will be Nasser Husain the former Chennai born English skipper who was made to eat his words after he remarked that the Indians have to come out of their skin to win a game, dada’s team did just that and the memories of dada waving his shirt and mouthing unprintables is something that will treasured in the heart and minds of the Indian cricket fan for generations to come.