Celebrating 24 years of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly making their Test debuts for India, the ICC on Saturday shared a clip, where both batsmen, recalling one of the most cherished moments of their careers, are seen speaking highly of each other. On June 20, 1996, Ganguly and Dravid first played Test cricket for India, at the Mecca of Cricket, the Lord’s Cricket Stadium in England.
Ganguly went on to strike a hundred on Test debut, becoming the 10th Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut. He was eventually dismissed for 131 while Dravid was unfortunate to miss out on the three-figure-mark, getting out caught behind for 95. With Ganguly’s mind harking back to June 20, 1996, the former India captain revealed how from the iconic Lord’s balcony, he waited for Dravid to complete his century.
“I was too engrossed in my performance to be honest. When he (Dravid) came into bat, I was already at 70-odd,” said Ganguly in the video posted by ICC.
“I remember my hundred scoring shot which was a cover drive through point and he was at the non-striker’s end. I finished the day at 131, I got out an hour after tea and he carried on. He came back the next morning and got 95. I was standing at the Lord’s balcony hoping that he would get a hundred.”
{{/usCountry}}“I remember my hundred scoring shot which was a cover drive through point and he was at the non-striker’s end. I finished the day at 131, I got out an hour after tea and he carried on. He came back the next morning and got 95. I was standing at the Lord’s balcony hoping that he would get a hundred.”
{{/usCountry}}Ganguly and Dravid went on to become pillars of India’s middle order for years to come. Having played together since their Under-15 days, Ganguly said it would have been a cherry on top had Dravid scored those five runs.
“I have seen him play at the under 15s, then Ranji Trophy together. I had seen his debut at Eden Gardens and then seeing his debut at Lord’s. So, I watched his career closely. It would have been great had we both got hundreds that day,” the BCCI president added.
Batting at three, Ganguly was well set when Dravid joined him at No. 7. With India at 202/5, together, the pair added 94 runs for the sixth wicket with Dravid batting well with the tail. Although he was dismissed five runs shy of what would have been an even more terrific debut, Dravid explained he took away a lot of motivation from the knock.
“He (Ganguly) batted at three, I came in at 7 in that game. So I had a long time to watch him bat and bat very well actually. I did feel really nice for him that he got that hundred,” Dravid said in the video. “And from my side, it was like I also have a chance to make it count. So, when he got out, I used it a little bit as a motivation and an inspiration.”