There was an absolute lull at the Wankhere Stadium of Mumbai. The spectators were shocked and silenced at the suddenness of the gory occurrence. Although the Stadium was less than half filled, it was still a record turnout at the U-19, India Pakistan final test match.
Sourav walked into the green arena, circling his arms to pump in the extra blood into the veins. He could see the previous batsman being helped out of the field. For a second Sourav’s eyes met his face. It was full of blood! Sourav, looked the other way....he tried to focus on the 22 yards.
He walked into the crease. But, what he saw gave him the second bolt. There was blood patches. Sourav tried to cover them up with dust. His wasn’t scared but he felt really bad for Jatin. He looked at the umpire and asked for guard. At that moment, he heard the Pakistani wicketkeeper shouting out to Liyak, the pacer, “Come on Liyak. Isshe bhi le lo. Yeh toh darr se kabu ho gaya”.
The first ball was a bouncer. Sourav ducked. The wicketkeeper shouted again, “mar le mar le! Sabash Liyak! Yeh darpok ko marr le!” Sourav’s jaws tightened, face steel like and eyes determined. He is not a coward, and he will prove that to the Pakistanis, as well as teach them a lesson for what they had done to Jatin Paranjape, the Indian skipper.
He decided to take the attack back to the opposition. The fast bowler was running towards him. Sourav, fixed his eyes and mind on the red ball only!
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Sourav’s consistent performance at the U-19 Bengal team, earned him the attention of Kailash Ghatani. Kailash was an ex-cricketer, who selected a team of promising players every year, and took them to England. In 1988-89, Kailash’s team for England included, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. To play in England’s weather and conditions is always a challenge for any batsman. And it is said that only class and quality can survive on the 22 yards in England.
The tour turned really well for Sourav. He was the second highest scorer in team, after Vinod Kambli. His performance in England earned him a place in the U-19 Indian squad for the 4 test match series against touring Pakistan team, under Moin Khan’s captaincy.
In the first test at Feroz Shah Kotla, India won by 3 wickets. The second Test at Kanpur and the third one at Rourkela ended in a draw. The final test match was at Wankhere, Mumbai. Pakistan batted first and scored 348 runs. Moin Khan was the highest scorer with 159 runs. Among the Indian bowlers, Jayedi and Kumble took 3 wickets each, while Ashish Kapoor and Paranjape took the remaining 4 wickets.
The Indian innings started. The Pakistan fast bowlers, Naim and Liyak were breathing fire down the Indian line. The Wankhere pitch had become lively, and the fast bowlers were exploiting that to the best. Ajay Jadeja, got out on 12, holding out to Moin Khan in Naim’s delivery. The other opening batsman Kaderkar got out on 3 as well. Jatin Paranjape and Agarwal, was at the crease with the score board reading, 22-2.
Liyak was bowling continuous bouncers to Jatin, as he was seemingly uncomfortable with those. Suddenly one good length delivery from Liyak, bounced on to Jatin’s face. Jatin tried to save himself with the bat. The ball took the edge, went on to hit straight on Jatin’s face and lobbed off to close-in fielder’s hands. Jatin was down on the ground. His face badly bruised.
Sourav, took the fight straight to the Pakistani camp. He was hitting every bowler and scoring runs fluently. Agarwal, fell at a personal score of 38. Bhupinder Singh and Anil Kumble fell in quick succession as well. But, none of this could deter, the Sourav tornado. He kept on hitting the bowlers at will. He got into a good partnership with Biswal. Together Biswal and Sourav pulled India out of the mess. In that innings Sourav Ganguly scored a century!
Sourav walked into the green arena, circling his arms to pump in the extra blood into the veins. He could see the previous batsman being helped out of the field. For a second Sourav’s eyes met his face. It was full of blood! Sourav, looked the other way....he tried to focus on the 22 yards.
He walked into the crease. But, what he saw gave him the second bolt. There was blood patches. Sourav tried to cover them up with dust. His wasn’t scared but he felt really bad for Jatin. He looked at the umpire and asked for guard. At that moment, he heard the Pakistani wicketkeeper shouting out to Liyak, the pacer, “Come on Liyak. Isshe bhi le lo. Yeh toh darr se kabu ho gaya”.
The first ball was a bouncer. Sourav ducked. The wicketkeeper shouted again, “mar le mar le! Sabash Liyak! Yeh darpok ko marr le!” Sourav’s jaws tightened, face steel like and eyes determined. He is not a coward, and he will prove that to the Pakistanis, as well as teach them a lesson for what they had done to Jatin Paranjape, the Indian skipper.
He decided to take the attack back to the opposition. The fast bowler was running towards him. Sourav, fixed his eyes and mind on the red ball only!
*********************************************************
Sourav’s consistent performance at the U-19 Bengal team, earned him the attention of Kailash Ghatani. Kailash was an ex-cricketer, who selected a team of promising players every year, and took them to England. In 1988-89, Kailash’s team for England included, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. To play in England’s weather and conditions is always a challenge for any batsman. And it is said that only class and quality can survive on the 22 yards in England.
The tour turned really well for Sourav. He was the second highest scorer in team, after Vinod Kambli. His performance in England earned him a place in the U-19 Indian squad for the 4 test match series against touring Pakistan team, under Moin Khan’s captaincy.
In the first test at Feroz Shah Kotla, India won by 3 wickets. The second Test at Kanpur and the third one at Rourkela ended in a draw. The final test match was at Wankhere, Mumbai. Pakistan batted first and scored 348 runs. Moin Khan was the highest scorer with 159 runs. Among the Indian bowlers, Jayedi and Kumble took 3 wickets each, while Ashish Kapoor and Paranjape took the remaining 4 wickets.
The Indian innings started. The Pakistan fast bowlers, Naim and Liyak were breathing fire down the Indian line. The Wankhere pitch had become lively, and the fast bowlers were exploiting that to the best. Ajay Jadeja, got out on 12, holding out to Moin Khan in Naim’s delivery. The other opening batsman Kaderkar got out on 3 as well. Jatin Paranjape and Agarwal, was at the crease with the score board reading, 22-2.
Liyak was bowling continuous bouncers to Jatin, as he was seemingly uncomfortable with those. Suddenly one good length delivery from Liyak, bounced on to Jatin’s face. Jatin tried to save himself with the bat. The ball took the edge, went on to hit straight on Jatin’s face and lobbed off to close-in fielder’s hands. Jatin was down on the ground. His face badly bruised.
Sourav, took the fight straight to the Pakistani camp. He was hitting every bowler and scoring runs fluently. Agarwal, fell at a personal score of 38. Bhupinder Singh and Anil Kumble fell in quick succession as well. But, none of this could deter, the Sourav tornado. He kept on hitting the bowlers at will. He got into a good partnership with Biswal. Together Biswal and Sourav pulled India out of the mess. In that innings Sourav Ganguly scored a century!
1 comment:
Harbhajan is the best. Sidhu is the best. Kapil is the best (due to proximity). But good writings though...agli baar milega to tujhe theek karta hun.
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