Ganguly celebrated his on July 8, a month that coincides with the ongoing England vs. India Test series, an event that gained Ganguly a friend for a lifetime
The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, i.e., the England vs. India five-match Test series, is in full swing in England. The host has won one game, whereas India secured one victory, both hoping to turn the tide in their favour.
What will happen in the remainder of the series cannot be determined at the moment, and to be honest, we do not even wish to. The internet is filled with analysis, pre-match, post-match, and player performance analysis.
The ongoing series rather brought back a memory for us from 1996 at Edgbaston, and to some extent, the birthday of Ganguly helped recall the flash memory.
Diehard Indian cricket fans are well aware that Sourav Ganguly made his ODI debut in 1992. However, his debut with the bat was unsuccessful, and people called him an arrogant person who lacks commitment. The result was an exile from international cricket as a young Ganguly toiled in domestic cricket for four years before making a dramatic comeback in 1996.
India’s first game against England was played in Birmingham, a match that went England’s way, who secured victory by eight wickets. During that game, Sachin Tendulkar’s bat had an issue. Sourav Ganguly was the twelfth man of the team, and therefore, he walked to the crease and fixed Tendulkar’s bat.
In the second game, the twelfth man, Ganguly, was finally promoted up the order as he got the opportunity to make his Test debut, and what a debut it was! 131 runs by a youngster in front of mighty English bowlers at the Lord’s, the Mecca of Cricket—what a comeback, a true redemption story, and a debut like no other.
Ganguly’s debut grabbed the headline for obvious reasons. However, on that particular day, another incident took place, which many did not notice. Ganguly was batting on 100 after spending six hours at the crease. During the break, Ganguly wished to have tea, but at the same time, he needed to tape his bat. Given he was completely padded up and the break was only 15 minutes long, he was struggling to get the job done.
That’s when Sachin Tendulkar came to Ganguly and asked the latter to finish his tea peacefully while Tendulkar fixed his bat, just like Ganguly did Tendulkar’s bat in the first test.
This incident sparked one of the greatest friendships and partnerships in the history of Indian cricket that is still alive despite both the players returning from the game. Off the pitch, their bond is often spotted at various events.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly’s partnership became the cornerstone of India’s batting prowess in the late 90s and early 2000s. In Test cricket, the two batters together amassed 4,173 runs with 12 century-plus stands and a highest partnership of 281 runs against New Zealand in 1999.
Last but not least, in ODI cricket, the two stalwarts played 176 innings, scoring 8,227 runs, the highest ever by any opening partners, coupled with 26 century-plus stands.
