A day after Sahara chief Subroto Roy announced that Pune skipper Sourav Ganguly "wanted to sit out" of the Warriors' last three games and Ganguly insisted that "I am the captain for the whole season", the confusion over "will he or won't he" got over when Aussie Steve Smith led the team for their
penultimate home game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
That Ganguly would 'sit out' was common knowledge since Friday morning but it got confirmed the moment Smith, who is trying to return to the international fold, addressed the team huddle ahead of the warm-ups in the evening.
While Ganguly listened to him patiently, he headed back to the dugout while acknowledging the cheering fans.
However, nobody admitted that Ganguly was being dropped for the game. Even Smith, the surprise choice for captaincy ahead of Michael Clarke, the man under whom he made his international debut in February 2010, said during the toss that "Sourav has rested himself".
Is it all over?
Now, that the inevitable has happened, is it curtains to a remarkable career in competitive cricket for a man who is two months away from his 40th birthday? Has the world seen the last of Ganguly, the cricketer? Or will he call it a day by choosing to play against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune in the Warriors' last game of the season next Saturday?
Take your pick.