What I learnt from each of the Fab 5
The Fab 5Virender Sehwag’s retirement on his 37th birthday on Tuesday brought to an end a golden phase in Indian cricket, which saw the likes of himself, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly bring several laurels to the country with their performances all around the world.Each of the five players had distinct traits and we as fans can certainly inculcate several qualities from each one of them.Here’s what I learnt from the Fab 5:
#1 Sourav Ganguly
In the year 2000, a 28-year-old left-hander from Kolkata took over the reigns of the Indian Cricket team after the match-fixing scandal had left a deep impact on the game. One of Sourav Ganguly’s immediate commitments involved improving India’s dismal overseas record and also ensuring it competed against the best in the world.
The decision to appoint him the captain seemed to have paid off from the word go as India reached the finals of the ICC Knockout Trophy in 2000, where they lost to New Zealand and then the following year, scripted a remarkable come from behind win Test series win against Australia at home.
The success at home started to reciprocate abroad as well soon enough, as, under Ganguly’s leadership, India drew a Test series in England and Australia, won a Test series in Pakistan and reached the finals of the World Cup in 2003.
The reign also saw the emergence of several future stars like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh etc blossom and develop into match-winning cricketers. Ganguly captained India in 49 Tests, out of which India won 21 and will without doubt go down as one of India’s finest captains, in its rich cricketing history.
What I learnt from him: Regardless of how strong the opposition is, don't give in so easy. Fight fire-with-fire and don't be shy to give it back when needed.