The moment finally arrives - debut at Lords

It was Sourav’s turn. Some of his teammates wished him luck as he proceeded. Sourav descended down the stairs and walked straight into the field. Before him was the lush green velvet - Lords, the mecca of cricket! It was the first day of the 2nd Test match between England and India. The English bowlers had already drawn first blood. Vikram Rathod was out on 15.

Sourav felt a shiver down his veins. Was it cold or the thrill of the moment? It was the moment for him. He had waited four years for this. It was time to give a suitable reply to all the controversies and allegations that was hurled at him. Even his selection wasn’t free of criticisms. Before the start of the test, the rumour went as “A new batsman from Kolkata has been included in the team. It is because of the Bengali quota’’. But what if he fails?

Sourav, closed his eyes and moved his head in a sideways. Blood rushed up his veins...that put all these thoughts out of his mind. .. he encircled his arms, to warm them up. The pitch was coming closer and closer. He tried to think what Mike had told him. “Enjoy your game my dear boy.”

He walked up to the batting crease and took guard. The bowler was running to him. Sourav could see only the red ball in his hand.

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It was June 20th 1996. England batted first. India used the overcast conditions to perfection as their seamers took four quick wickets in the afternoon session to grab the upper hand as England slipped to 144 for five at tea on the first day. Resuming after lunch at 39 for one, England lost opener Alec Stewart for 20 early in the session and then a dramatic middle-order collapse saw them lose three wickets for just nine runs.

Stewart and first Test centurion Nasser Hussein, who went to the wicket with the total on nought after skipper Mike Atherton fell for a duck, put on 67 runs before the recalled opener left a big gap between bat and pad and was bowled by Javagal Srinath.

Hussain became the first victim of Saurav Ganguly, making his Test debut in place of the injured Sanjay Manjrekar, when he was brilliantly caught at the second attempt at second slip by Vikram Rathore for 36.

Graeme Hick spooned a simple catch to Srinath when he was on one, also off Ganguly, and Ronnie Irani managed just a single before he was bowled by Venkatesh Prasad to leave England at 107 for five. At tea, Graham Thorpe was on 47 and Jack Russell 21. From 107/5, Russel (126) and Thorpe (89) batted well to put score at 344.

The Indian innings received early blows. Openers, Vikram rathod (15) and Nayan Mongia (24) departed early. From there Sachin and Sourav steadied the innings. However, Sachin too got our on 31. Azhar (16) and Jadeja (10) too fell in quick succession. It was left upto the two debutants, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to steer India out of the crisis. Rahul unfortunately got out at 95.

Sourav as the 10th player in world and 1st Indian player went on to score a century in Lords at debut. Finally, he was bowled out at 131 by Mullali. India scored 429 in their 1st innings reply. The match eventually ended in a draw.