O Captain, My Captain!
It’s not every day that you take a leaf out of a Hollywood movie like Dead Poets’ Society for your everyday life. The quotes very frequently lack relevance, sometimes articulacy and mostly aptness. But instances do come once in a while when a reference or two lie in perfect sync with your thoughts, and notwithstanding their rarity, one such occasion happened to converge on the city of Kolkata on the evening of May 5, 2012.
Much had been written, printed, described and analyzed in the lead up to the fateful evening. Volumes of paper and massive lengths of columns had been dedicated to the most awaited IPL encounter of the season. On paper, Pune Warriors India versus Kolkata Knight Riders was just a match; off it, it was plenty more.
A day to be remembered
‘It had all come down to city-hero against the city’
The day marked the homecoming of Sourav Ganguly after the KKR franchise had snubbed him in the previous year’s auction. Kolkata held its breath in anticipation as their Prince squared off against their Knights. Forget the IPL, forget the players – it had all come down to city-hero against the city.
The emotional turmoil that gripped the population who had grown up watching ‘Dada’ clear boundaries on the offside was palpable. Passions were high, as would be expected when your childhood obsession locks horns with the local team you have always loved, in a battle only one would win. The dilemma was real – it was no longer heart versus mind; the heart itself was torn by loyalties.
Ganguly had always been a polarizing figure in Indian cricket. Few could rouse passion in the hearts of cricket aficionados in such proportions. So when KKR’s bowling coach Wasim Akram related the atmosphere with one during an India-Pakistan match, it was understandable and unsurprising. The home team had been booed throughout the match when a Ganguly-less Indian team had taken the field against South Africa at Eden some six years ago. One only hoped that things would not soar to such level this time.
Return of the comeback king
The chants of “Dada” at the city airport when Ganguly emerged from behind his teammates were enough to indicate the love and affection he enjoyed from his fans. The people of Bengal had always had his back during the dark days of his career. The hint of smile that lit up Ganguly’s face as fans cheered wildly held evidence to the fact that he was glad to be back to where he belongs.
As the city geared up for the poignant return of their beloved champion, placard and jersey vendors celebrated the sudden boom in business. A 50-year-old near the Raj Bhavan could not hold back his surprise as he announced, “I have sold about a hundred Pune jerseys. But the Knight Riders jersey is short on demand. In comparison, I’ve sold only 20 KKR jerseys.”
It was not slated to be much of a game, considering the forms of the two teams. The Knights were inching towards the top while the bottom-placed Warriors were desperately hoping for a turnaround in fortunes through their skipper. The average Calcuttan would have slept over it, knowing for certain that the local franchise would have it easy, had the Pune team sheet not boasted of Ganguly’s name. It was this single name that split up loyalties and turned friends into temporary opponents, such was his magic.
The high-voltage encounter
The Eden applauded Ganguly off the field
The significance of the match was obvious by the time the two captains walked out for the toss. Time at Kolkata had come to a standstill; its dwellers had ceased their usual chores to watch one man play cricket. The tension was nerve-wrecking, the eagerness stressful on the heart.
Impatience greeted the Pune top-order after the Knights had put up a challenging score of 150. Earlier, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum had stitched together a record 113-run opening partnership. While those present at the ground had cheered somewhat reluctantly during the stand, the allegiance had shifted largely to the visiting camp after Gambhir’s dismissal.
Ganguly’s waving of the arm to direct his field had met with deafening roars every single time, and when he ultimately walked in to bat at No. 7, the greeting was riotous. The J Block, soaked in Pune’s colors, cheered madly with placards and chants of “Dada, Dada”. In the middle, Ganguly edged some, middled a handful and struggled to a 35-ball 36. When he finally played it into Iqbal Abdulla’s hands in the 18th over, the entire Eden Gardens fell into silence.
Dada hadn’t danced down the wicket to spinners; perhaps his best shot of the evening was a cheeky upper cut over short third man off the bowling of Jacques Kallis, there was a six straight down the wicket too – but this innings couldn’t turn the clock back. Yet. Surely, this wasn’t over?
A stunned Eden almost forgot to applaud the man as he walked back. While the staunchest KKR supporters refrained from celebrating lest they hurt the feelings of what seemed to be the majority, Pune fans struggled to come to terms with the sudden fall of their idol.
Stirred into reality with Ganguly just yards away from the dug-out, Eden decided to applaud with a standing ovation. Seventy thousand people stood up without hesitation to appreciate their hero as he absorbed the cheers and raised his bat towards the crowd. Dada might not have delivered as well as he would have liked, but these people had braved the May heat and had walked out of their homes just to watch him play – and they would do it again, and again, and again.
At the end of the day, all it took was a tweet from Aakash Chopra to sum up the atmosphere at the ground:
The crowd at the Eden Gardens is d best 12th man a team can have but today KKR will have to do with only 11 men. Split fan loyalty.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 5, 2012
