A stunning reversal of roles
Both made their debut together. While Sourav became the master, Rahul ate the humble pie.
What a reversal of roles among two cricket stars who made their Test debut in the same match at Lord's almost a decade ago!
When Sourav Ganguly was the master of all he surveyed, Rahul Dravid was made to eat the humble pie and wear the wicket keeper's gloves to keep his place in the one-day team.
At that stage of his career "The Wall" was not adept in the shortened version of the game which calls for improvised shots, even some totally agricultural ones, and constant rotation of strike.
Questions were asked about Dravid's effectiveness as a batsman in the one-day format because of his in-built tendencies to offer a straight bat. His one-day place seemed to be in doubt.
However, the Bangalore stalwart, an unwilling donner of gloves behind the stumps for the better part of this period, lumped it down his throat and kept wickets to the best of his ability. He also improved tremendously as a one-day player.
It was said Dravid's additional job of keeping wickets in the slam-bang game helped him improve as a one-day batsman.
Ganguly, on the other hand, was the supremely gifted batsman at the top of the order with his sublime sense of timing on the off side.
His silken-smooth caresses used to send the ball racing to the off side boundary and helped him amass runs by the tons at a fast clip in the limited overs format, earning him admiration of everyone.
But the elevation yesterday of Dravid to India captaincy for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and doubts over Ganguly's participation in the tournament have brought into sharp focus the stunning reversal of their roles in the one-day game.
Ganguly, who forged an outstandingly successful one-day opening combination with master batsman Sachin Tendulkar before abdicating that position to Virender Sehwag, now has to prove his intrinsic value to the team as a mere player under Dravid if the ICC lifts the ban imposed on him. Just like the latter had done earlier under his captaincy.
Is Dravid's elevation as captain a stop-gap arrangement, or has the era of Ganguly as the national cricket skipper come to an end? That's the big question which would be answered soon.
Suffice to say, Ganguly needs to get back to the form of yore which made him one of the finest one-day batsmen in the world.
And he needs to do so at the earliest as quite a few youngsters with superior fitness and unrealised dreams are waiting in the wings.
Would Ganguly be able to recapture his earlier touch which earned him the respect of his peers and make his spot in the team secure? It's a difficult task, but something not beyond his reach.