"Dadaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Dadaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!", I ran beside the man screaming at the top of my voice. He looked at me, tiredness evident in his eyes. He was returning after a grueling three hour practice session.

"Can I get an autograph, Dada?", I said, visibly excited. I was at an arm's distance away from the legend.

"No, later", he quipped and walked away.

I didn't feel annoyed or bitter that my only meeting with my hero didn't go the way I imagined it to. Just a little disappointed that i didn't get his autograph.

The Bengal southpaw, Saurav Ganguly, announced on the 7th of October 2008 that the current home series with the Australians would be his swansong. The curtains were about to fall on an illustrious and glittering career. The nation went into mourning.

'Was it the right time?', "Was he forced to announce his retirement from international cricket?", "What will happen to the Fab Four?" - Questions that are doing the rounds currently.

Does it actually matter? If it does, let me give you my personal view on the matter. Yes, I think it was a good time to announce his retirement. It is also true, or so I have been given to believe, that he did not have a choice in this matter. He has just been provided a platform to walk away gracefully. Yes, it's also true that the Fab Four has been disintegrated and only the Holy Trinity remains. But for how long?

But, the fact of the matter is, tomorrow when Saurav Ganguly takes the long walk back to the pavilion after his last innings; he can walk with his head held high. Here was a man who did not take things lying down; instead chose to meet fire with fire. A man whose path his rivals feared to cross. A legend who took the nation to great cricketing heights.

"Aristocrat?" Yes. "Arrogant?" Yes. But a greater SPORTSMAN and a LEGEND!

"Dada! Stand Up and Take a Bow". We will miss you.