Exclusive words by Sourav Ganguly

If love, anger, bravery, mirth, compassion, aversion, amazement, fright and calm are the 'nava rasas' or the nine emotions that as per ancient Indian theory of aesthetics a quality work of art must evoke, then no modern cricketer comes close to Sourav Ganguly.

Nobody can make fans and foes alike run through the gamut of emotions as the former Indian captain. Even in the Sunday night game, he first aroused laughter and loathing among KKR fans as he ran back to drop a catch in the outfield that strictly belonged to teammate Aakash Chopra. It was typical of Ganguly to shout at the hapless fellow fielder when the mistake was his own.

And then as his solo endeavour to sign off on a winning note looked futile with wickets falling at the other end, the KKR captain turned into an object of pity. In fact, at one point, his apparent refusal to move into fourth gear prompted commentators like Arun Lal to wonder why he was delaying the onslaught for whatever it was worth.

The unthinkable happened thereafter. Despite all the shocks that Ganguly has let loose on his unsuspecting fans since his fairytale international comeback in December 2006 - beginning from a half-century on a savage Johannesburg pitch to a double century against Pakistan in Bangalore to a match-winning but already forgotten 87 against South Africa just six weeks ago in Kanpur - few were prepared for the way he batted, smashing an unbeaten 86 off 53 balls, admittedly with Umar Gul in stellar support.

But as the crowd swiveled from amazement to euphoria at Eden Gardens on Sunday, Ganguly remained the quintessence of cool. Facing up to Irfan Pathan and in need of 15 runs off six balls to clinch an unlikely win for the Kolkata Knight Riders, both his face and demeanour were a picture of Buddhist calm. The former India captain looked at peace with himself and with the world.

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