Sourav Ganguly's Debut in International Cricket
Everyone is quite familiar with Sourav Ganguly's Test debut in 1996 at Lords. The southpaw took the cricketing world by storm with his sublime ton on his debut Test. But to know about Ganguly's International debut, one has to go back four years to the summer of 1992.
Back then, the teenage Ganguly was making headlines back in Kolkata with his Ranji Trophy heroics for Bengal. Led by his brother Snehashis Ganguly, Bengal went on to clinch the 1991 Ranji Trophy title. And a 19-year-old Sourav was instrumental in their success, scoring 394 runs in 6 Ranji outings. It was only a matter of time since the national selectors took notice of this prodigious talent.
He was included in the Indian squad for the limited-overs triangular series away in Australia during the 1991-92 series. The lanky lad from Bengal had finally made his way into the national squad, and was looking forward to his first national cap. But his dreams of donning the national colours didn't go according to the way he had planned.
Arriving in Australia, there was culture-shock in store for the teenager, but more shockingly a cold attitude from his teammates. Then India captain Mohammad Azharuddin didn't make any efforts of trying to make the rookie feel at home. Also a distant attitude from veterans like Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Kris Srikkanth and Azhar didn't help any more.
Inspite of his good show with Bengal, Azhar didn't consider capping Sourav until way late into the series. India had lost three of their first five matches of the ODI triangular series, and still Sourav was waiting for a call. Finally for their ODI against West Indies, Azhar decided to blood the youngster at Brisbane.
Other than Sachin Tendulkar (77), the Indian batsmen were clueless against the Windies bowling attack. The pace-friendly Gabba track, with it’s bounce choked all Indian veterans. With the score reading 35 for 4, Ganguly walked in to bat in his international debut.
He wasn't used to batting as low as number 6, and was overawed by the occasion. After struggling for more than 30 minutes, he finally fell for 3. Windies pacer Anderson Cummins trapped Sourav plumb, as he departed after a 13-ball 3.
Cummins went on to scalp five Indian wickets, as Azhar's boys folded for 191 in 48.3 overs. Fifties from skipper Richie Richardson (72) and Desmond Haynes (52) were enough to guide the Windies to a comfortable 6-wicket win at the Gabba. Azhar didn't even consider experimenting with Ganguly's bowling abilities on a swing-friendly track.
But what followed after this was even more hurting for the Bengal teenager. Several India veterans questioned Sourav's attitude. He was labelled arrogant by many of his teammates. And stories of him, refusing to carry drinks for his teammates and doing 12th man duties, doing the rounds did a lot of damage. The selectors perceived him as an arrogant youngster and immediately dropped him from the squad.
Ganguly continued to toil in the wilderness of domestic cricket for four long years. After several high-scoring seasons for Bengal, it was his 171 in the 1995-96 Duleep Trophy that made the national selectors sit back and take notice. He was drafted into the national team for their 1996 tour of England.
The southpaw featured in just a single ODI in the 3-match ODI series at England. He impressed with a well-crafted 46 as India fell to a 4-wicket loss at Old Trafford, Manchester. But inspite of this promising innings, Ganguly was dropped from the squad for their upcoming 3-match Test series.
But as lady luck would have it, Ganguly found a place in the Test squad. Navjot Singh Sidhu left England after the First Test citing differences with skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. Siddhu's loss turned out to be Ganguly's gain, as he was recalled to fill in his shoes.
Debuting at Lords, at the age of 23, Sourav mesmerized the crowd at Lords on his debut Test. Playing at the Mecca of cricket, he struck a sublime 131, laced with 20 exquisite boundaries. The youngster from Kolkata became the 3rd batsman to strike a ton on debut at Lords. And even today, 18 years since that day, his 131 remains the highest score by a debutant in a Test at Lords.
Heroics at Lords was followed by 136 at Trent Bridge, making him only the third batsman ever to make a ton in each of his first two innings. Sourav Ganguly had finnaly arrived in style in international cricket.