More than Ganguly’s cricket, it was his drama that divided his audiences into camps, with the division always very porous. Sometimes it was awesome. Those centuries on Test debut. That mastery of the off-side. Those clean sixes over long-on. But always he appeared to be aware of the occasion. He hinted as much in a recent interview. After the trauma of being dropped without being given much of a chance on an Australian tour, he said he suspected that second chances would not come his way again soon, he had to prove himself on that Lord’s debut. He did, with a century and some wickets, following it up with a consecutive century. That would be his way of grooming India out of the desolation of the lost ’90s, a decade of indifferent cricket and matchfixing scandals. To be counted, the Indian team had to perform. To perform, his young hopes — most prominently, Harbhajan Singh — had to be given enough chances to make good. To give themselves a chance, India had to match up to the best, harnessing professional support staff, learning to enjoy themselves on tour, steeling themselves for competitive aggression, especially against the Australians.

We’ll miss Ganguly. In retirement, after a last series when it finally went so right for him, we’ll probably find that memories of the darker side, the pettier side even, of his drama will fade, and those of his enthrallingly successful captaincy of India burnished.