Goodbye Maharaja!!!!

Lords, 13th July 2002.... every Indian cricket fan was on cloud nine. This picture shows not only Sourav Ganguly's emotions that night but of whole India. It was more than a mere reply to what Flintoff did at Wankhede. Thats Dada...Maharaja...Prince of Kolkata.

"The only man after God on the off side" are the most talked about words about Sourav Ganguly and truly the pleasure his off-drives have given over last 12 years to any and every cricket follower is unmatchable. I take immense pride in being left-hander and very much thankful to the person who first gave me cricket bat and asked me to hold it that way.

So called IT generation...young generation of India has grown up watching fab four batting and I think everybody will agree that it hurts to see the fort Fab-4 built up finally getting dismantled. Along with off-drives Ganguly would always be known for his Captaincy. No one would ever dare to deny him credit for matches India won abroad. Dada's leadership and the best ever middle order in India's history made that possible. Indians were always called Tigers at home and sheeps abroad but Ganguly and his team has surely changed this perception of cricket analysts by winning everywhere around the world.

Nagpur was the last test appearance for Ganguly. In first inning it was very certain till that beauty from Krejza that he will be giving fitting reply to Chappell (who holds unique record for scoring century in debut and in last innning) by scoring century in the last appearance but that was not to happen and he fell short by 15 runs. Today in his last test appearance he got out on zero. Thats what is called fate. Finally, Maharaja thanks for making every Indian proud of your achievements and showcasing world the might of India.

Goodbye Dada....Wish you all the best...

Yesterday was one great day for me….. I will cherish memories of it forever…..

For the first time I went to Formula-1 sports bar here in Pune…. The atmosphere was electrifying… It was worth paying 250 bucks…..

I had been to sports bar earlier in US as well as in Hyderabad but the atmosphere was never so great… (There might be better sports bars but I am yet to go ther)

Moreover the way championship was shaped up this year, it was just awesome…It was as thrilling as last year…I was praying for Ferrari’s victory…(I just don’t like watching Mclaren win)

And believe me guys, it turned out to be greatest race I have ever seen….

It had all the drama embedded in it….. It was raining so heavily just before race starts that race start was delayed by 10 mins…The moment it started raining there were all sorts of ill-words from Ferrari fans around….. Everybody knows this year Ferrari was as poor as Force India in wet conditions…. They were just unable to keep their vehicle on track in wet conditions….. Almost all drivers went for tyre change just moments before start of the race choosing Intermediate tyres….

Within few loops bright sunshine was all over the park and there was a kind of sigh of relief over all faces….. But for Massa to win Hamilton was required to end race below 5th position and he was driving pretty comfortably at 4th position….

It was first pit-stop that excited all the people present in the bar….. Hamilton who was driving 4th moved down to 5th position…Ferrari contingent in the bar was glad to c this…. There onwards It was normal race… It was clear that Felipe is gonna win the race….he was driving amazing…. Hamilton was not at all able to take back 4th spot and after second pit stop even Force India was challenging him… He was further down and facing all sorts of problems with Force India putting up challenge….. But Fisi’s challenge lasted for very small time and within a lap Hamilton was back to CHAMPIONSHIP….

But the real drama was reserved for the end….. On Team radios, pit-crews were calling drivers back in pits for tyre change as rain was expected in few minutes...

It was last 7-8 laps and the greatest find of this season Sebastian Vettel was driving like anything…. He was almost on Hamilton’ s tail wings ….. And that was the time every Ferrari fan around started yelling, hurling abuses at Hamilton…. Praying for some mechanical problem to his machine…..

It was second last lap of the last race of the season and Vettel had an amazing overtaking manuovre, he gained 5th position with Hamilton down at 6th. We were on cloud nine…… British faces and Mclaren supporters were almost in tears…. Vettel defended Hamilton attack till end…. I was dancing, clapping….. We could see Massa family overjoyed…All the Ferrari fans could not believe their eyes as it looked as if it was again similar story to last year and Hamilton lost the final bout…..But this joy was very short-lived as suddenly one british fan in the bar stood up…..Looking at all of us said “No…….Hamilton won the championship…He finished 5th”… and then came the big blow…. Useless Timo Glock could not hold his place and he was overtaken by Hamilton as well as Vettel on the last turn….

I didnt stay in the bar for one more minute… Left for the home with tears in my eyes….
Thanks Vettel for that one moment…I just want to see u in Ferrari paddock in coming years….... And good luck to Massa for next year….