To all the readers of this Blog!

Thank you. Siddhart, Partha, Grey Blind, FIP, Anonymous, Shamrez Zack, Bhavin, Rudra, Seena, Neel and all other...thank you all for your continous support and encouragement.

Just a special word to Grey Blind and Shamrez: Thanks for pointing out the errors! Have corrected them. I respect our difference of opinions but do really appreciate the time you have taken to read the Blog in details, and contribute with your invaluable information and opinion.

To Partha and all other ... as everything that starts must also come to an end! Since I had started with Sourav's childhood, I had to bring the series of story telling to a logical end with his historical feat in England tour.

I tried to retrace the path of Sourav from childhood to Lords, with unheard and unknown stories. The experiences of our life makes what we are! My true and honest intention in unravelling the lesser known stories was to discover the building blocks of Sourav's undying, unrelenting character - which was transfused into an ailing team through his legendary captaincy.

But, the show must go on - with a new beginning ... with a new idea! So till then, adieu! See you all soon!

A Hero is Born!

The flight from London touched Kolkata via Delhi. The Dum Dum Airport at Kolkata was flooded with cricket fans from all over Kolkata and beyond. They had come all the way to see a glimpse of Dada – The Big Brother. Sourav got on to an open hooded car arranged by C.A.B. There was uncountable number of people by the two sides of the road. The situation got worse near Behala. Sourav’s car was not moving at all. It took few hours to reach Behala from Taratala More, which otherwise takes 10-15 minutes. People had come out of their homes to wish Sourav.

Bengal had finally found their hero, whom they would always love, adore and stand by throughout his career.

Century again!

Sourav’s century at Lords was unexpected to the cricket fraternity of this country. While for most it was a pleasant surprise, for others it was rather hard to accept. A lot of cricket pundits wrote off his historical feat as a mere fluke. No matter what world thinks, a true champion is one who performs on the stage when it is most needed!

Sourav did receive appreciations as well. Richie Beno said that he expected such a knock from Sourav and hailed him as one of the rare left handed talents in cricket.

Team India, played two more matches before third test. The first one was against ‘University’ where Sourav scored 52 and the other against Hampshire where he scored scored an unbeaten 100.

The 2nd Test began at Trentbridge. India batted first. Vikram Rathod and Nayan Mongia failed again, and got out at 4 and 9. Sachin and Sourav were at the crease. Together they played in absolute tandem, to build a partnership of 255 runs. This was the beginning of many such phenomenal partnerships which these two greats of Indian cricket went on to score in the next ten years. Sourav hit yet another century and was caught by Nasir off Mullai’s delivery at a personal score of 136. Sachin was finally out on 177. With Sanjay Manjrekar and Rahul Dravid chipping in with useful knocks of 53 and 84, India posted a target of 521 before England. The match finally ended in a draw.

But, Indian cricket saw the rise of two new talents – Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, who would become the pillars of Indian batting side for over a decade.