In the world of sports, international debuts are something to cherish because there are words that "first impressions are last impressions." Many players have made these days unforgettable in their life with a performance that remains etched in everyone's memory.
But then there are some debuts that changed the course of history, and June 22, 1996 was probably one of them. On this day, 24 year's ago, the 'Home of Cricket' saw two young Indian batsmen announced their arrival in the longest format of the game with two sublime knocks: Sourav Chandidas Ganguly and Rahul Sharad Dravid.
Sourav Ganguly changed the culture of Indian cricket as a captain. He imported the hunger to win abroad among his teammates. His leadership showed Indian Cricket the right direction in turbulent times. But at 22 yards, batsman Sourav was no less. He was one of the bravest left-handed batsmen in the history of Indian cricket.
Sourav Ganguly did not simply make a century on his debut. He set an example that day. He did not have the potential in him to make it to the highest form of cricket, that was the verdict passed by the team management on that tour.
The Test series hadn't started on the right note for the Indian team as they lost the opening match at Edgbaston. Captain Mohammed Azharuddin and the team management then decided to hand Test debuts to Ganguly and Dravid.
Both Ganguly and Dravid had to wait for their time to put on the pads as Azharuddin opted to bowl first as the wicket had a greenish tinge. His call was justified by Venkatesh Prasad as he claimed a five-wicket haul to bowl the hosts out for 344.
India's innings started and they were instantly in trouble with opener Vikram Rathour back in the pavilion at the score of 25 and that brought the 'Prince of Calcutta' to the crease. There were a few anxious moments for the debutante as he may have been late on a couple of hook shots and the ball with which Chris Lewis opened him up had gone off his shoulder rather than glove or shoulder of the bat. Many umpires may have missed the exact point of contact and given the batsman out in the excitement of the situation and the concerted appeal. But once he settled down, the baby-faced innocence to him was not reflected in his batting. The God of the offside played a few dazzling cover drives which showed that he's here to stay.
He put up a 64-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar for the third wicket but it was his 94-run partnership with Dravid for the sixth wicket which kept India in the game.
Ganguly reached his century on debut with another cover drive off Dominic Cork and went on to play a solid knock of 131 off 301 with 20 boundaries. This was the highest score by a debutant at Lord's and he became the first Indian batsman to make a century at Lord's in his very first Test, before being dismissed by Allan Mullally.
Dravid came into the bat at number seven with the likes of Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja in the team and had to do the damage controling job with the team struggling at 202/5 with just the tail left to bat. After Ganguly got out he continued to frustrate the hosts and contributed some valuable runs with his Karnataka teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath to take India beyond the 400-run mark. Unfortunately, he edged a Chris Lewis delivery to wicketkeeper Jack Russell just five runs short of a century at Lord’s. He was rock solid in his defence on that day. He played 267 balls and scored an important 95 with six boundaries.
By the time the series was done, Ganguly had scored another excellent century, Dravid once again fell short when he had missed another but got 84. However, those two innings in 1996 definitely set the tone for the turn-around Indian cricket was to witness over the next decade following the match-fixing scandal and after that historic century in the Lord's Test, The Prince of Calcutta did not have to look back.
[Match Summary 👇
England - 344 & 278/9d & India - 429. Match Drawn]
✍️ Subham Dey
Dada is love..
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