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.

The time had come!

The Indian Team dressing room had greater overcast conditions than the English weather. It was a prelude to a storm. The squad of 1996 sans Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsarkar, had Navjot Sidhu as the only senior cricketer. A cold war was going on between Azhar and Sidhu. Sidhu was continuously being provoked by the “yes-men” of Azhar like Jadeja and few others, with the tacit support of Azhar. Finally Sidhu could take no more. He returned to India, in between the tour and announced his retirement. That gave rise to a series of criticism and controversies back home.

Sourav’s inclusion had raised a lot of eyebrows. Cricket pundits across the country had already cried foul, and pronounced his selection as an evil outcome of political lobbying in BCCI. He knew his window of opportunity will be very small. But, somewhere deep down he knew the opportunity will surely come.

The touring side started off by playing five matches against the county cricket sides. Sourav did not get a chance to play in the 1st match. In the remaining matches against NCS XI; Wistars, Glostershire, and Susex; Sourav wasn’t able show any outstanding performance. His best score was 64 n.o. in the second innings against Glostershire. This innings earned him praise from Richie Beno.

The 3 match one-day series against England started. In the first match England batted first and scored 291. In reply, India was 16 for 5 at the end of 17.1 overs when it started raining. The match was abandoned. England won the 2nd One day by 6 wickets. Sourav was not in the playing XI for the first two matches. He got a chance to play in the 3rd match, where he scored 46 runs. India lost the 3rd match as well by 4 wickets.

Sourav was selected in the playing XI for the 1st Test Match. In this match Sachin scored a brilliant century (122). But, India lost this match as well to the Atherton team by 8 wickets. By this time Navjot Sindhu has returned back to India. Sanjay Manjerekar was sent as a replacement. Vikram Rathod after scoring some impressive knocks at the start of the series had also begun to fail. Above all, the Indian team was plagued by injuries. Manjerekar injured his thumb in the practice matches. Left with no other option, the team management was forced to play Sourav and Dravid in the 2nd test match at Lords.

Sourav knew the time had finally arrived. This was the opportunity for which, he had waited for four long years. He remembered the words of Arun Lal and Mike Stuart. The opportunity to settle all scores had unexpectedly come knocking. It is now or never!

The Metamorphosis

Days went by...so did months...and two years passed by. During, these two years Sourav had not known any beyond the Gymnasium and cricket ground. He was focussed on his goal...and was expending all his energy to hone his cricketing skills. But his mind wasn’t at peace. Often the Australian tour haunted him, making him restless, and desperate. He couldn’t but free his mind. It was still burdened with scepticism.

In 1994 Sourav went to England to play the County Cricket. He got a chance to play in the minor county, for Brondsberir. He had been here before as a member of the Kailash Ghatani team. He was at school that time. Those days seemed golden to him. The present however was different. What was missing...he wondered sometimes. It was perhaps happiness.

In such a time Sourav met Mike Stuart. Mike’s passion was cricket, and profession – psychology. Mike knew that something very heavy was blocking Sourav’s way...which he was not able to remove himself. He needed Mike’s help. One day Mike Stuart told Sourav,

“Enjoy the game of cricket, my dear boy”
Sourav, looked at him surprised. Mike smiled and replied,
“You seem surprised, aren’t you? Look, your talent is beyond all doubts. The wait is only for an opportunity. Remember, to settle all scores when you get that opportunity.”

Sourav, remembered Arun Lal. He had said the same thing.

Interactions with Mike Stuart brought about a sea change in Sourav’s state of mind. He understood that the battle must be won in the mind before it can be won on field. And the key to it is to relax, and not be desperate. Chance will surely come one day, to settle all scores. However it is more important is to enjoy the game, than settle scores. Pressure of expectations, are part and parcel of every sphere of life. But, if one doesn’t enjoy what one is doing, he is surely too burn out.

The change that Mike Stuart could bring about in Sourav can be best explained by another incident in his life.

He was playing club match at Kolkata. Sourav was fielding in the deep. Suddenly someone from the spectator threw an orange at him. The orange hit him and fell on the ground. Sourav was surprised and hurt ... but now he knew how to answer back better!

He juggled the orange with his feet and like a football...lifted it on to his thighs ... then lobbed it up and caught it. He then peeled it, and ate it up! Seeing the Maradona, feat, the gallery burst into applause. This was a different Sourav!

Another two years had passed by. In these two years, Sourav kept on playing domestic matches. Although his performance was not the very best, it was nonetheless respectable. It was 1996, and the selection were about to meet for finalizing the Test Sqaud for England. Sambaran Banerjee, the ex-Bengal Ranji team captain had become the selector of eastern zone by now.

Sambaran Banerjee was determined to put Sourav back in the Test squad. He knew that he would face stiff resistance from Md. Azharuddin. After all Azhar had managed to do away with him 4 years back, and under no circumstances he would accept his resurrection. Sambaran Banerjee did all the necessary ground work. He took the advantage of the quota system of selection. It was simple deal with a majority of the selectors ... you back my candidate and I back yours! Inspite of Azhar’s steep resistance, Sambaran got Sourav in the initial selected list of players.

However, the resistance was not all over. Few people know that he was almost being dropped after his name was initially finalized by the selectors for the trip! There was a dispute among some selectors trying to push a player but there was no vacancy. Some selectors then suggested that Sourav’s name be struck off to accommodate this player. It was then BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya intervened and threatened to adjourn the meeting. The final list of players for the England tour of 1996, had the name – Sourav Chandi Ganguly.