A personal appreciation

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: medals and pat comes the answer, “We lack the infrastructure that the West has.” Yet when it comes to Saurav, who is 35 plus — is a rank bad fielder and has a weakness against the rising ball, top opposition like the Australians and the South Africans could exploit none of these between December 2006 and October 2008. An unparalleled determination coupled with grit and talent has seen him through, a rare combination that was once again on display at Mohali when he grafted his way to his 16th Test ton and in doing so led India to an unassailable position in the match.

The truth — and sometimes statistics is not the ass we think it is — will demonstrate that Saurav Ganguly had amassed 1000 runs in the calendar year 2007. He was the Man of the Series against the South Africans earlier this year and he is India’s highest scorer thus far in this series. Yet, he has to retire for there isn’t a soul in the BCCI who will step up to urge him to reconsider. The cardinal cricketing maxim that performance is the ultimate watchword has given way to a strange belief in India — it is age that matters and not performance that does. You need good fielders and fast runners. May well be Indian cricket will soon be a forum in which 100 metres sprinters will take a real fancy.

As he waits his turn to play his last Test match, there’s little doubt that he stands tall in the middle of a relatively non-sporting race. For icons like Agassi, Saurav and Zidane have proved time and again that infrastructure and cash-rich facilities don’t make champions — they make themselves.