It was a moment of sadness for Ganguly’s fans when he announced his retirement at the start of the Border Gavaskar series. Wow, what a series Dada has had. Well, for a moment let’s forget his last test duck and think of the otherwise amazing series he has had. In a way, I also don’t feel bad about the last innings duck - I mean, Don Bradman, like Ganguly scored a test century on debut and retired with a last inning duck. More importantly, he has maintained a fantastic average all through his career that matters.

Think of Ganguly, and I have a never ending list of memories to share! The Toronto series where he notched a five wicket haul, the bestest opening pair India ever had - that of Sachin and Ganguly, his captaincy; the most inspiring ever,  the attitude - something the English and the Aussies abhorred, and well, I could go on and on and on.

Now, when Dada fades into sunset, let us recount the glorious career Dada had (oh well, lets forget Chappel and his cronies for a moment). Here is my countdown of his five greatest moments!

5. Century on Debut at Lords

Ganguly made his first ODI appearance way back in 1991-1992. His test debut still took its own sweet time to come. And when it came in June 1996, Dada did not let it make a meek entry into the record books. He scored a smashing 131 runs, which was sure a warning to the oppositions about the oncoming decade!

4. Sahara Cup, Toronto

No surprises if this series is now to be known as the Dada series. When the series started, Ganguly was still only a decently popular batsman, who could also swing his arms a bit. He had scored one century and had claimed one wicket till then. By the end of the series, he had stamped his authority as the God of the off-side with the bat and the ‘Man with the golden arm’ with the ball. Ganguly created a world record of 5 consecutive Man of the match awards and also won the Man of the series award. India had found a new superhero!

3. Natwest finals, 2005 2002

What are Indian cricketers like? Gentlemen cricketers. Sledge them a bit, and they all fall down. That was before the Prince of Calcutta was crowned the Captain of the Indian team. Ganguly’s fearlessness and audacity towards the opposition had transformed the team of gentlemen losers into a fighting group of young soldiers. One man stopped the way Indians were condescendingly looked upon by the other teams. His shirt-waving at the end of the epic Natwest series finals signalled the arrival of the new unit of fighter Men in Blue.

2. 2003 World Cup

India faced the Kiwis in their home turf before the 2003 world cup. The pre-world cup preparations turned out to be dampener with everyone except Sehwag failing to make any impact whatsoever.A billion Indians waited with bated breath for the unthinkable to happen - India exiting the world cup on the running form (or lack of it) of the players. But Ganguly proved what his boys were capable of. After the initial hiccups, India transformed into virtually the only team capable of beating the mighty Australians. Though India faltered in the finals and did not win the world cup, Ganguly’s men had made their point. They were no pushovers!

1. The Great Comeback

Let them trash you, dump you or walk over you.But never let them conquer you. How many people have we seen with this positive a mentality? With Ganguly, we learnt it twice. Back when he made his ODI debut in 1991, he was dropped for what the selectors termed “arrogance”. Dada made his bat talk for the next two years and when the heavy flow of runs just did not seem to cease from the young man, the selectors finally thought it fit to get him back into the national team, and what we know is history.

But the second and the most inspiring comebacks and what shall forever be etched in the memories of all those who have even remotely followed cricket is the way he made his grand re-entry into the national team after the Greg Chappel-Ganguly conflict had the selectors favoring the coach over the captain and what made them drop Dada from the national side for over a year. For most of us, it was impossible for Ganguly to come back into the team. The young boys Ganguly had reared during his captaincy were all men now, and all ready to take over the reins. There was virtually no space for an ‘old man’ like Dada among the young blooded men in blue. But as always, Ganguly proved the cynics wrong and scripted the most dramatic comebacks into the team.

What a career it has been for the Maharaja of Indian cricket. Good Luck for the future Dada.