End of an Era

1996

Being an ardent fan of Vinod Kambli, it was disheartening to see him rested and a rookie 24 year old been given a chance to play in his place. India's semi-final loss was fresh in my mind. Still my heart rendered the injustice meted out to Kambli - especially after the emotions he had to go through when Clive Lyodd awarded the semi -finals to Sri-Lanka at eden gardens. The debutant was an utter disappointment. Lasted only 4 balls scoring a paltry 3.

1998

There were angst amongst the Indian public because the batsman was too correct. His copy book shot were always grounded but ended up in fielders hand. It was a pain to watch him especially when we had the God, the prince, the playboy and the gambler showing all the tricks around him. His inability to find gaps led to question marks about his ODI career.

1999

He was the top scorer for the world cup. However, he always had another player playing a better game for the same match which "belittled" his performance. He was happy contributing for the team.

2000-2002

He flourished under the great shadows of the god and prince. With prince taking over the mantle, he was made the deputy in charge. India's eternal hunt for an batsman wicket keeper was hurting India's batting line up. Around 5 wicket keepers were tried during this tenure. None could could justice with either Batting nor keeping. To lend some stability, he donned the keeping gloves unwillingly. And thus began one of the golden era of Indian ODI victories.

2003

India went to the world cup finals after 20 years.BCCI clever's match scheduling saw India playing kenya in the semi-finals. God thrived but unfortunately the team succumbed on the D -day. In all the hue and cry, all the excellent stumpings and magnificent catches taken by a part time wicket keeper was forgotten.

2004

It was one of the crucial tour to Pakistan. India beat pakistan in comfortable 3-2 victory. Dew factor was credited for the magnificent indian victory . The person who was instrumental in making sure that india benefited from the dew was happy taking the backseat. But international fraternity was cognizant enough to award him the first ever ICC overall best player trophy.

2005 - 2007

He has to weather out the turmoil in Indian cricket with differences cropping between the then captain and the coach. When he took the reins, there were a lot of talented players in the dis-coherent team. A big question was raised on the capability and future. But this tenure saw the emergence of most of the players , who went on to lead India to a world cup victory in 2011. India lost 2007 world cup under his leadership but most from that team were instrumental in our 2011 victory. 2007 saw an immediate ouster of the coach. Indian team had to travel to England without a coach. Still this man had the perseverance to double up as an manager and India managed to give a remarkable performace (England won the series 4-3). After he quit captaincy, his role in ODI's started diminishing.

2007 - 2011

The new captain of youngistan had no place for him in the new team. He was only called for the championship trophy as it was played in seaming condition and India required a "correct" batsman. But as the pitches across the world were continuously flattened out to meet the voyeuristic demand for increasing TRP, it seemed as an retirement call for this player. Again, in England when majority of core team players are injured, he has again been roped in to play.

September 16

Today is his last match. May be, he'll succed or succumb. I'll not go for records or win percentages. But i am fortunate to see a sports person entire lifecycle - the struggle in the beginning, glory for his talent, ignominy in defeat and again the resilience to serve the nation whenever he was provided with the opportunity.

Somebody rightly said - we don't need a Bharat Ratna for him, he already features in our national anthem