I don't understand where all this talk of magnanimity comes from. He has already overstayed his welcome by two years and thanks to his ingenious timing and choice of words, two additional tests. He does not have the class, technique, temperament or fitness of the real greats like Gilchrist, Tendulkar, Dravid, Hayden or Lara, who really are among the best in their country even now when they are well over 35.
He did not leave of his own volition for the good of cricket or the Indian team, it took a rather brusque hint (being dropped from the Irani Trophy) for him to consider leaving with some respect. Two years ago his ego did not allow him to make this decision because he really does seem to believe he's in the same bracket as Laxman, Tendulkar or Dravid. He should have retired from Tests and concentrated on ODIs. For all the talk about Kapil Dev, at least he left as a world record holder.

Ajax,
I do agree with most of what you have said, but just a few points –

a) We agree on his ego and selfishness. But what he did was magnanimous by_his_standards. I am not equating him with Mother Teresa!
b) I have not compared his batting prowess to the greats you mentioned because, like you, I too believe he is not in their league. His USP is his leadership and aggression, which worked wonders for a while. You cannot deny the achievements of the Indian team under his captaincy.
c) This is not a piece of academic research, just a personal summation of my feelings for one of the great characters of the game.

I am very well aware (and this should be quite evident from the piece), that I did not enjoy disliking Ganguly, and was looking for the right reason to start liking him again. He provided that reason, and I jumped on it. In relationship terms, he provided ‘closure’, and I am happy that from now I can just think of the good times he provided and not too much about the bad.

I almost agree with Suraj. He was playing for himself. I would accept his contribution as a captain and sometimes as a test player but he was a politican above all. Even now when he has announced retirement he is casting doubt about his current teammates while playing alongside them. He is indirectly mudslinging Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the two captains who dropped him. I never like this attidude of him. The whole Chappel saga was created by him. In fact he played good only after he was dropped from the team. I may like him but I do not admire him.

Was extremely disappointed with the comments by AJAX. The strong, bold, confident and more often-winning Indian cricket team that we all love today so much, we all owe it to the one and only Sourav. The 'priority to youth than experience' policy was something that was first brought into Indian cricket by Sourav. He never played for himself. He just was not ready to leave from behind the screens like other very good players like Robin Singh or Venkatesh Prasad et al. There isn't anything wrong in fighting for something you believe you are capable of and is the right thing to do though all else believe to the contrary.

AJAX - Ganguly has scored more runs in the last two years than any other Indian batsman. If you think he's overstayed his welcome, then what about the others?

AJAX, that "belief" sure gets him far doesn't it? But I don't really think that belief is the one which spurs him on. He loves playing for his country more rather. And when you're axed unfairly I don't think you'd take kindly to it.
How maddening it must be for Ganguly haters when he keeps popping up when you least expect him to. He has the talent to get under people's skins, and all of those critics. And he has scored heavily in the past years, has saved matches, has won matches. You can't compare him to Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar. He is in a class of his own.
The worst thing you can do as an Indian cricket fan is compare your greats to each other.
They have different styles, different class.
Ganguly changed the face of Indian cricket after the match fixing scandals, and likewise you noobs have to thank him for it.
Silly how fickle minded the Indian's memory is. Once Ganguly was a great, now he's a loser meant to have retired two years earlier. Really silly.

Tendulkar and Dravid certainly can be placed in a higher bracket than Ganguly due to sheer weight of runs worldwide. Laxman however, I feel is massivly overrated by some quarters. His test average at 43.7 is very marginally over Ganguly's at 41.7. And Ganguly is probably one of ODI cricket's all time greats,an aspect Laxman doesn't compare to (his ODI avg is 30 compared to Ganguly's 41..FYI) and furthermore, Ganguly's contribution as Captain cannot be forgotten! So in short, please do not overrate Laxman.

AJAX, Ganguly has qualities which the other old Indian batsmen only dream of. The likes of Tendulkar and Dravid dropped their average to 20 when they were captain. Ganguly was the only one who managed to not only handle it but we inspired by it. And while Sachin is admittedly a master of the game, Ganguly is definitely as good as Dravid. Dravid has also had a two year slump and scores his runs at strike rate far less than Ganguly.
And what ego does he have, India's team performances have been best under his captainship. The only other player that seems to fit the role is Dhoni.

And leaving as a World record holder is irrelevant. Do you expect Kumble to continue playing until he passed Warne and is second only to Murali on the wickets taken list?

Ganguly was the first captain to step outside his state and zone while team selection was on.
Many cricketers would have been unceremoniously dumped if it had not been for the skipper's faith in them and his ability to carry the Selection committee with him. Surely members of this forum need not be reminded of those.
We are back to leadership.

All you guys talking about Ganguly's stunning captaincy are a joke. The only reason he is the most successful captain is because India have such a poor record. But I guess you guys love mediocrity so much that that is outstanding, and lets face it, there's not much else you can say that would make your hero sound good, is there?
In 49 matches he won 21 games. Take away wins against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and that plummets to under 30%. Here's an objective article about how good a captain he really was - http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2007/jul/06ganguly.htm - in short, not very. Btw SVXX, you Indians maybe fickle, but AJAX certainly isn't, I never thought Ganguly deserved a test spot. As to those who claim Ganguly has a better average than India's other batsmen, last I checked, it was only the calendae year 2007 (Bangladesh and Pak on flat tracks) that gave him that edge. 6 years his average was below 35, 3 of them under 30. He didn't deserve the chance to come back in the first place.

I don't agree to the fact that Ganguly has been selfish in the last two years by staying in the team. It is a fact that there is no one in the bench consistent enough to make the No. 5 spot his own. Rohit Sharma has an average less than 40 in first class cricket, Virat Kohli is still too loose and flashy, Badrinath - his only claim to fame is an unbeaten 20 something in an ODI in Sri Lanka, Kaif (one innings wonder) has problems getting the ball off the square. The only good thing coming out of this retirement is that Yuvraj (the only one on the bench who instills confidence) can now be given an extended run without the pressure of the axe hanging over his neck.
And Kapil, lets not even compare him with Saurav. He kept on playing just for the record and it was a pain seeing him being swept for a six like a spinner by a certain Craig Evans (Craig Who?) of Zimbabwe.

India is going to loose series against australia because we are playing old dogs. Look at how well our ODI team performed because we got rid of old junkies like ganguli,kumble,dravid and laxman. We need to kick them all out if we need to win esp upcoming series against pakistan or they will beat the hell out of our sorry old asses