Sourav Ganguly, Sachin and Dravid gave the same message during NatWest Trophy final: Ajay Ratra
The stage is the famous NatWest Trophy final between India and England in 2002. Batting first, England had posted 325 for 5 in their allotted 50 overs. Ajay Ratra, who was the back-up keeper for Rahul Dravid on that tour, recollects what transpired in the dressing room during mid-innings.
Captain Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, three stalwarts of the team, gave the same message to the whole team, "We will play our natural game, then we’ll see where it goes.” It was a moment when the senior statesmen gave a much needed morale boost to the youngsters in the line-up.
Unlike the current age, anything in the range of 250-275 was considered a winning total in ODIs at the time when this happened. To add to that, India had not been in the habit of winning a lot of trophies, especially away from home.
Now, they were playing a final at Lord's and were looking at a target of 326, it was natural to panic. This is when Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid stepped in.
“325 in 2002 was a big score and that too in a final at Lord’s, which is England’s stronghold. England were playing very well in that tournament. So the atmosphere inside the dressing room was not that good in the beginning when our innings had started but everybody was positive. Sachin, Rahul, Dada said that we will play our natural game and let’s see where we end up. That lifted us all,” Ajay Ratra said.
What ensued has been told over and over many times, but little do Indian fans get tired. Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag gave a good start to the chase, building up a century partnership at a brisk pace.
But soon the team was in trouble after losing the top order in no time, and ended up at 146/5. That was when the famous duo of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif joined together and took the team to victory.
"I had gone there to give drinks to Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif since I was not playing that game. The conversation was on that grounds that we just need more than a run a ball. All we need to do is stay confident. But the way they played their shots, pulls, over covers, I think it was one of Kaif’s best innings,” Ajay Ratra added.
Sourav Ganguly's famous Dada celebration
While talking about the NatWest Trophy final, the first image that pops up is that of Sourav Ganguly removing his jersey and waving it on the Lord's balcony. The traditionalists had then raised hue and cry over this, citing it was indecent behaviour at the Home of Cricket.
Ajay Ratra feels that this incident struck everyone since it was Sourav Ganguly who celebrated in that manner. If it was Yuvraj Singh or Harbhajan Singh, who were quite young at the time, it would have been taken as a sort of youthful fury. The act was regarded as a message given by Sourav Ganguly to the entire cricketing fraternity that India won't bow down to intimidation.
"Dada we all know is aggressive; he remembers things and gives it back when the opportunity comes. That was also a bit surprising, to be honest. If the young cricketers like Yuvraj, Harbhajan had done it then it would have been fine but Dada doing that was a bit instant," Ajay Ratra said.
Sourav Ganguly lifted the trophy as India won the final with 2 wickets to spare. Mohammad Kaif was named the Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 87 runs.