Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the two most celebrated peers of Sourav Ganguly, on Wednesday paid tributes to the retiring member of the ‘fab four’, saying the Bengal stalwart had been a fount of inspiration for his teammates during his 16-year-long glorious international career.

“He just had a way with people and inspired others with his performances,” Tendulkar told a cricket website.

“He’s had a brilliant career and I for one have thoroughly enjoyed playing with him. There have been some memorable moments that he has given to the game and also the immense joy he has given to the team,” said Tendulkar, who had tipped Ganguly as captain when he stepped down from the hot seat in 2000.

Dravid said Ganguly has achieved everything that any cricketer could possibly want in his career.

“What more could he have asked for? He’s seen it all. Played some fascinating knocks in One-dayers; batted well in Tests at home and away won Tests abroad and led India to a World Cup final,” Dravid said.

“It’s been special to have been part of a middle-order alongside him. I hope I learnt something from him and added something to his cricket,” he added.

Both, however, admitted they were taken by surprise when Ganguly informed them of his decision to retire after the series against Australia.

“It came as a surprise as he told us in the dressing room that he was quitting. It was towards the end of practice and I was surprised. I could not even talk to him since he had to rush to the press conference,” revealed Tendulkar.

Ganguly has had great moments in his career but Dravid and Tendulkar are unanimous in their pick of the finest knock from the left-hander.

“It would have to be the 100 at Lord’s without doubt. He was returning after 5-6 years to international cricket and to make a hundred at the Lord’s was just terrific,” said Tendulkar.

Dravid agrees the Lord’s century was just too special. “Being there with him at the other end and watch him score that hundred was surreal,” he admits.

Tendulkar and Dravid also had their takes on the debate on the impact on the team’s campaign against Australia by Ganguly’s retirement decision.

“Look at the brighter side. The moments will be cherished forever. This is not the time for judgment. This is the time to respect an individual’s judgment,” Tendulkar would say.

The footwork was precise, the touch was sublime, the impeccable Swiss timing was back and Roger Federer glided away with a fifth successiveUS Open crown on Monday.

After a year of disappointments and setbacks, Federer protected his aura of invincibility at Flushing Meadows in devastating style, handing Andy Murray a 6-2 7-5 6-2 masterclass.

While Murray’s hopes of ending Britain’s 72-year wait for a men’s grand slam champion were dashed, Federer clutched major trophy number 13.

Once Murray had dumped a weary backhand into the net, Federer celebrated his first grand slam win of 2008 by sinking to his knees, rolling over on to his back and covering his eyes with his hands.

“One thing for sure, I’m not going to stop at 13. That would be terrible,” a beaming Federer, who now trails Pete Sampras’s overall record by just one, said courtside.

The triumph breathed new life into what had been a frustrating season for the Swiss master. It started with a bout of glandular fever and continued with a semi-final loss at the Australian Open before morale-sapping final defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Monday’s victory finally eased those painful memories.

“It definitely feels great. This is a very special moment in my career,” Federer said after sealing his 34th successive match win at Flushing Meadows.

“I had a couple of tough grand slams this year, finishing in semi-finals and two finals, one epic at Wimbledon,” said Federer, who was beaten at the French and Wimbledon finals by Rafael Nadal.

“So to take this one home is incredible. It means the world to me. I played great. I felt like I was invincible for a while again and that’s exactly how you want to finish a tournament.”

VAST COLLECTION

The triumph was certainly incredible because the man who already owns a stockpile of records added yet another one to his vast collection.

His run in New York after previously stringing together five straight Wimbledon titles from 2003 to 2007 made him the only player to have won five in a row at two different slams.

While Federer can let out a sigh of relief for rescuing his season, a rather scruffy looking Murray can look forward to a close shave for the first time in two weeks.

The superstitious Scot had stopped shaving during his six-match winning run at Flushing Meadows and a razor is likely to be on top of his duty free shopping list after he picked up the biggest cheque of his career, a cool $1 million.

Although he fell one match short of adding the men’s title to the junior crown he won four years ago, Murray conceded he had been outwitted in every department.

“I’ve got a lot of improving to do if I want to win one of these tournaments,” said the sixth-seeded Scot, who had beaten Nadal in a rain-disrupted encounter in the last four to reach his first grand slam final.

“I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game. I got the better of him the last two times we played. He definitely set the record straight today.”

Bad weather forced the men’s final into the third Monday of the tournament for the first time since 1987.

While that was good news for Federer, who walked on court having enjoyed an almost 50 hours of rest, Murray was back in the Arthur Ashe Stadium less than 24 hours after dispatching Nadal.

It took Federer 20 minutes to take advantage of his fresher pair of legs. He sent Murray on the run in the sixth game of the opening set, and three successive errors from the 21-year-old handed the second seed the break.

Gusting wind

A gusting wind swirling around the arena only added to Murray’s woes and in just 27 minutes the first set had flashed by, a backhand sailing wide to hand Federer another break.

Federer capitalised on his advantage to charge 2-0 ahead in the second set but Murray suddenly found his range and started sprinkling Federer’s territory with winners to level at 2-2.

That galvanised the Briton and he had Federer running scared when he went up 0-40 on the Swiss’s serve in the fifth game.

However, Federer was fortunate not to be broken when, trailing 15-40, one of his shots landed long. The linesman was unsighted and Murray, lacking conviction, opted not to halt the lengthy rally to challenge the point using Hawkeye technology.

Murray produced the error to give Federer a second chance and held serve.

Displaying the tennis that has become his hallmark – but unsighted for much of this year — Federer conjured a dazzling array of backhand, forehand and volley winners to claim four successive points and break Murray again for the set.

A cry of “We love you Roger” echoed around the Ashe arena and Federer responded by lifting his game in the third set.

A weary Murray managed to win only three points as the Swiss stormed 5-0 up before the Scot rallied briefly to foil Federer’s first attempt at serving out for the championship. One game later, though, he ran out of puff.

Source: Hindustantimes.com

Leander Paes’ stupendous show at the US Open, where he won the mixed doubles title and finished runners-up in men’s doubles, brought him back to the top 10 as he gained eight places to be number eight in the latest ATP rankings issued on Tuesday.

Paes, who now has 2860 points in his kitty, paired with Lukas Dlouhy in men’s doubles and with Cara Black in the mixed doubles in the US Open.

Paes’ estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi also gained one place to be 11th with 2680 points.

Rohan Bopanna’s doubles ranking though suffered badly as he lost 10 places to slip out of top 50 and is placed 56th with 1041 points.

India lost the final to Pakistan after winning its two league matches with ease. The first match was with Bangladesh and they were defeated with not much effort and second one was with Pakistan and that too was not a challenge for our men in blue. Almost everyone thought that the winner of the final will be India and they will defeat Pakistan with ease. But the opener of Pakistan, the man in form Salman Butt gave a solid start to the Pakistan innings and was given support by Younis Khan. Both scored a century and took Pakistan past the 300 mark. India while replying lost Sehwag very early and the wickets fell in interval and that was a major problem for India. Dhoni came to the rescue by scoring more than 60 but it was of no use. India fell short of 15 runs to win the final. But the game went well and was interesting to see.India l