My Tribute to MSD

It's not Goodbye

Dada would never say it out loud but the long-haired kid he had met for the first time a few years back had made a very special place in his heart.

He had seen the kid grow up to become the calm and composed captain who had only just started leading the Indian side.

Mahi had come up to his Dada and asked if he would do him a little favour.

Ganguly had an amused expression on his face as he inquired about the 'little' favour that his kid needed.

Mahi says, "Dada, I want you to be the captain for some time."

Dada immediately shakes his head and replies, "No Mahi, you should only lead your team."

Unfortunately, Mahi didn't have enough time, nor did he have an argument ready, so he dropped the topic for now.

After a few overs Dada wasn't surprised to see the kid come back to him with the exact same request.

Just as his big brother was about to say no again, Mahi says, "Dada you said that I should only lead my team but technically this is your team. Please thodi der ke liye hi bas captain ban jao."

Dada realises that he won't be able to win this argument so instead he replies, "First tell me why you want me to captain the team."

Mahi understands that he's almost won the argument and smiles as he says, "Because this is your last match and I want to do something special for you. Ek last time hum sab ko apne Dada ki captaincy enjoy karne do na."

Dada couldn't help but agree to the request, before shaking his head at the way his Mahiya's eyes lit up when he finally agreed.

By now all the Indian players had learnt about the little gesture that Mahi had in mind as a farewell gift for Dada and were extremely happy to be playing under the leadership of the great Sourav Ganguly one last time.

Dada started guiding the bowlers and made some changes in the field placements.

Sachin Paaji came up to his best friend and happily hugged him, before going to his fielding position.

Dada and Paaji chuckled a little when they noticed how Mahi had a little skip in his steps ever since Dada had taken charge.

~~~~~~~

A few overs later Dada had enough and he ordered Mahi to take charge once again.

He couldn't stop smiling at how his grown-up kid looked a little down before he went back to captain mode.

It had always amused Dada to see how his Mahiya seemed to have a switch to go from being an immature kid to a mature leader in a snap.

India won the match comfortably and also the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

After the match, the team gave a lap of honour to Dada and Anil Bhai since they were both taking retirement.

In the dressing room the support staff organised for a cake for the two players taking retirement from international cricket that day.

It was after the cake cutting that Dada noticed that his Mahiya seemed to be uncharacteristically down all of a sudden.

He knew that the kid wasn't as social as some of his party animal friends, but Mahi seemed to be lost in his own thoughts unless someone went up to talk to him.