Ganguly slams brilliant ton in Duleep match
By Anil
October 21 2005
Sourav Ganguly put into practice the old adage that class is permanent and form temporary as he hammered the best pace attack in the land on a seamer's paradise for a blistering ton.
October 21 2005
Sourav Ganguly put into practice the old adage that class is permanent and form temporary as he hammered the best pace attack in the land on a seamer's paradise for a blistering ton.
The Prince of Kolkata silenced his critics as he stood out from the pack with a century that combined the brilliance of a world-class left-hander with the sheer guts of India's winningest captain.
Returning from injury under high pressure amid announcements that this game would be instrumental in earning a return to the team for the third ODI against Sri Lanka, Sourav gave the good-sized crowd in Rajkot who had turned out to support the Indian Test captain much reason to cheer.
India's own version of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, Vikram Rajvir Singh, bowled with tremendous pace and hostility not seen in Indian cricket since Javagal Srinath's younger days on an incongruously green and bouncy pitch that could have come straight out of Australia.
Tall and powerfully-built VRV followed instructions from North captain Dinesh Mongia to a T as he raced in and fired more than 90% of his deliveries short-pitched, aimed at Ganguly's injured elbow, rib-cage and head, in an attempt to exploit the batsman's supposed weakness to pace. His fellow-quickies, Punjab's noted pacemen Amit Bhandari and Gagandeep Singh, followed suit.
Several overs later, smashed out of the attack and patrolling the outfield, India's fastest bowler reflected on the harsh lessons learned from bowling to one of the greatest batsmen in Indian cricket.
The aggressive captain's knock of 117, studded with 18 boundaries and a massive six, eventually ended with a tired shot to spinner Amit Mishra, but the lead Ganguly had garnered virtually ensured that the far weaker side he was leading, East Zone, would likely wrap up the 4-day match against favorites North.
After the fall of his wicket, VRV returned with a vengeance to tear out the rest of the middle and lower order in much the same way that the North pacemen had ripped through the top order on the pace-friendly greentop before Sourav strode to the crease with customary confidence and swagger.
Selectors Yashpal Sharma and Ashok Sharma were in the stadium, suitably impressed after personally witnessing the carnage. Greg Chappell, Aussie import recently recruited to help India improve its ODI record despite his own poor record as South Australia coach, will have much to answer for. After BCCI publicly condemned his leaked email propaganda against Ganguly as "far from the truth", he would have hoped that Ganguly would fare in much the same rusty manner as had other Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar (who hit a total of 38 runs in three Challenger matches played in conditions perfect for batting), Rahul Dravid (coming off a miserable run in World series ODIs and Test in Australia) and VVS Laxman (bowled for 7 in another Duleep Trophy match).
That Ganguly came out with flying colors will have Chappell worried, and he is unlikely to make any comment on this innings. For Sourav demonstrated not only that he is still one of India's top batsmen, but also that a great captain can take a weak team to victory.
Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock have already shown us why a team of champions should never be confused with a champion team after the ROW team fared considerably worse against Australia than minnows Bangladesh, despite a team packed with names such as Dravid, Murali, Sehwag, Kallis, Inzamam, Shoaib, Flintoff and other luminaries.
Meanwhile, with the powerful North stuttering at close of play with 3 wickets down and still 7 runs behind, Sourav's unfancied East looks set to easily win a game in which most would have bet against them. Perhaps he will be back with the ball tomorrow to turn his golden arm over, as he did in the first innings to grab a couple of wickets.
Welcome back, Dada.
Returning from injury under high pressure amid announcements that this game would be instrumental in earning a return to the team for the third ODI against Sri Lanka, Sourav gave the good-sized crowd in Rajkot who had turned out to support the Indian Test captain much reason to cheer.
India's own version of Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, Vikram Rajvir Singh, bowled with tremendous pace and hostility not seen in Indian cricket since Javagal Srinath's younger days on an incongruously green and bouncy pitch that could have come straight out of Australia.
Tall and powerfully-built VRV followed instructions from North captain Dinesh Mongia to a T as he raced in and fired more than 90% of his deliveries short-pitched, aimed at Ganguly's injured elbow, rib-cage and head, in an attempt to exploit the batsman's supposed weakness to pace. His fellow-quickies, Punjab's noted pacemen Amit Bhandari and Gagandeep Singh, followed suit.
Several overs later, smashed out of the attack and patrolling the outfield, India's fastest bowler reflected on the harsh lessons learned from bowling to one of the greatest batsmen in Indian cricket.
The aggressive captain's knock of 117, studded with 18 boundaries and a massive six, eventually ended with a tired shot to spinner Amit Mishra, but the lead Ganguly had garnered virtually ensured that the far weaker side he was leading, East Zone, would likely wrap up the 4-day match against favorites North.
After the fall of his wicket, VRV returned with a vengeance to tear out the rest of the middle and lower order in much the same way that the North pacemen had ripped through the top order on the pace-friendly greentop before Sourav strode to the crease with customary confidence and swagger.
Selectors Yashpal Sharma and Ashok Sharma were in the stadium, suitably impressed after personally witnessing the carnage. Greg Chappell, Aussie import recently recruited to help India improve its ODI record despite his own poor record as South Australia coach, will have much to answer for. After BCCI publicly condemned his leaked email propaganda against Ganguly as "far from the truth", he would have hoped that Ganguly would fare in much the same rusty manner as had other Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar (who hit a total of 38 runs in three Challenger matches played in conditions perfect for batting), Rahul Dravid (coming off a miserable run in World series ODIs and Test in Australia) and VVS Laxman (bowled for 7 in another Duleep Trophy match).
That Ganguly came out with flying colors will have Chappell worried, and he is unlikely to make any comment on this innings. For Sourav demonstrated not only that he is still one of India's top batsmen, but also that a great captain can take a weak team to victory.
Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock have already shown us why a team of champions should never be confused with a champion team after the ROW team fared considerably worse against Australia than minnows Bangladesh, despite a team packed with names such as Dravid, Murali, Sehwag, Kallis, Inzamam, Shoaib, Flintoff and other luminaries.
Meanwhile, with the powerful North stuttering at close of play with 3 wickets down and still 7 runs behind, Sourav's unfancied East looks set to easily win a game in which most would have bet against them. Perhaps he will be back with the ball tomorrow to turn his golden arm over, as he did in the first innings to grab a couple of wickets.
Welcome back, Dada.
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