I will miss Sachin, others: Ganguly

Kolkata, Nov 11 (IANS) Having retired from international cricket, former captain Sourav Ganguly Tuesday said he would miss his colleagues like Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian team, but would root for them whenever he watched them on television.

'I will watch them on television. I will root for them,' Ganguly told reporters at his residence, when asked how he would be in touch with other players in the team, particularly those he had groomed for the big league.

Asked about Tendulkar, with whom he formed one of the all-time best opening combinations in one-day cricket, Ganguly replied: 'Sachin was very close to me. Lot of other boys in the team were also close. I will miss their company.'

Ganguly rated his debut Test, the experience of captaining India for the first time and his last Test at Nagpur, which ended Monday, as the three best moments of his glittering career.

Ganguly said he was now looking forward to some rest before deciding his future. 'I have to wait and see how things unfold. Haven't decided yet. There are lot of opportunities before me. I have to look forward,' he said at the media meet, a couple of hours after returning to his city following his retirement.

He appeared pragmatic when asked if it felt bad to be called a former cricketer. 'This day was bound to come one day. Maradona, Pelle, Gavaskar, they all had to retire. One day, Tendulkar will also retire. This is part of sports.'

On the celebrations Monday after the series win against Australia at Nagpur, he said: 'Oh! It was geat fun. It was fantastic. It was a night to remember for all of us.'
Ganguly said the retirement of the seniors would provide an opportunity for the youngsters to take Indian cricket forward.

Earlier, hundreds of fans mobbed Ganguly when he returned to the city.

Bouquets in hand, the cricket buffs shouted slogans eulogising the former Indian captain and constantly cheered 'Dada', 'Dada' - as Ganguly is lovingly known.

They held aloft the tricolour, Ganguly's photographs and waved posters thanking him for his contribution to the game, the country and West Bengal.

Ganguly, who arrived at the N.S.C. Bose International Airport in the evening, was received by Municipal Affairs Minister Ashok Bhattacharya and Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretaries Biswarup Dey and Arun Mitra
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Anbu.

Missing Ganguly

Who will replace Sourav Ganguly? For Indian cricket that question has mostly been about the key role he's played as part of perhaps the best middle order in Test history. As he retires - with, we regret to admit, drastically diminished dominance of the offside - in this, his last series, the Australians have reminded us that Ganguly had other, non-cricketing, attributes that need an entirely different sort of successor. And in this he has found an able heir: Zaheer Khan. By the evidence of his post-Bangalore Test spat with Ponting, the fast bowler will keep stirring the Australian pot long as ably as Dada did.
Ganguly's great skill in rattling the Australians was more than the stuff of cricket gossip. Ever since he kept the then Australia skipper, Steve Waugh, waiting for the toss in the 2000-2001 home series, a legend was born. The x-factor in Ganguly's leadership to a new team driven by self-belief and aggressive professionalism stood identified. He looked his opponents in the eye, he steeled his charges into dismissing their opponents' formidable reputations. He outdid Australia at their mind-games! Even now, watch how they look to Ganguly to account for their failure to seal the Bangalore Test. Having failed to take 20 Indian wickets, their media is holding Ganguly responsible for the draw, for taking a few minutes too many to return to the field after a short suspension in play for poor light - minutes, presumably, in which six Indian wickets could have been taken.
So, thank you, Australia, for this more than gentle reminder. Thank you, Ponting, for your absurd post-match comment that Australia were the only one "trying to take the game forward", as if forcing a draw has not been an indication of a team's Test skills. Thank you for recalling in this season of obsessive mourning about the Indian Fab Four's impending departure that an Australia series will never be dull, even if the action on the field is inconclusive.

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Anbu.