This day that year: Sourav Ganguly scored a century at Lord’s on Test debut


This day that year: Sourav Ganguly scored a century at Lord’s on Test debut

Sourav Ganguly maiden Test century

On this day, 25 years back, former India captain Sourav Ganguly smashed his maiden Test century on his debut at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, London.

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He achieved this outstanding feat during the third day of the second match of the three-Test series. With this, Ganguly also became the second Indian to score a Test century on debut after former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin

After winning the toss, India opted to bowl first while trailing 0-1 in the series. England posted a decent total of 344 as Jack Russell scored a century while batting at number seven. On the other hand, ace Indian speedster Venkatesh Prasad claimed a fifer, supported by Javagal Srinath (three wickets). Ganguly also clinched two important scalps of Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick in England’s first innings. 

India went on to succeed the opposition’s score as they posted a mammoth total of 429 in their first innings with Ganguly (131) being the highest scorer. However, the match ended in a draw on the final day of the Test match.

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The arrival of India’s two superstars

Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid

Apart from Sourav Ganguly, the historic Lord’s Test marked the debut of veteran cricketer Rahul Dravid as well. The latter too, batted extremely well for his brilliant knock of 95 in India’s only inning in the match. He missed a well-deserved century by a whisker as Chris Lewis claimed his wicket.

The duo of Ganguly and Dravid played well in the following game at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham as well. Ganguly went on to smash yet another century (136) while Dravid batted well for his knock of 84 runs. The third Test match of the series also ended in a draw, hence, the hosts clinched the series 1-0. Meanwhile, ‘Prince of Kolkata’ Sourav Ganguly also won the ‘Man of the Series’ award alongside Nasser Hussain.

Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid ended their international careers as two of the best batsmen to ever play for the Indian cricket team. Ganguly ended his Test career after 113 Tests and 7212 runs at an average of over 42. On the other hand, ‘Wall of Indian cricket’ Dravid had 13288 runs in 174 Tests against his name at the time of retirement.

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