When 'God of the Off Side' ruled at Lord's - A silver jubilee for Sourav Ganguly

Itrsquos 25 years since Sourav Ganguly became the first Indian batsman to score a Test debut hundred at Lordrsquos He did so against England who were led by Michael Atherton and in the process helped India to go well beyond Englandrsquos first innings score of 344Onedrop Ganguly scored 131 301 balls 20x4 as India totalled 429 helped also by Gangulyrsquos fellow Test debutant Rahul Dravidrsquos 95 The game was drawn after the opening Test defeat at Edgbaston The Bengal tiger also scored a hundred in the following Test at Trent Bridge NottinghamThe innings at Lordrsquos was worthy of high praise and noted cricket writer Scyld Berry wrote in The Telegraph newspaper ldquoIt was the highest score by any batsman on his Test debut at Lords Ganguly was the subject of schoolboy jokes and singsongs when the 23yearold Indian lefthander first batted against England in the Old Trafford international But you had to watch Ganguly as he became only the third batsman to make a hundred on his Test debut hererdquomiddaycom spoke to the former India captain and current president of the BCCI on his threefigure efforts which highlighted the last two Tests India figured in during that English summerExcerpts25 yearshellipso quicklyTwentyfive years have passed so quickly Those two centuries in England changed my life Nobody could have imagined that cricket would reward me so many accolades What more can a cricketer ask for and I got everything from the cricket fieldI was well prepared mentallyI was very young then a couple of weeks short of turning 24 My only ambition was to play for India Ganguly had represented India in ODI cricket before The then captain Mohammed Azharuddin informed me two days before the Test that I could be playing so I could do my mental preparation In fact I slept well the night before the Test which started on June 20Settling in as a Test playerI did a bit of knocking since we did not bat on the first day I sent back Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick and so I could settle down in the Test cricket atmosphere While speaking to my dad on the same night he reminded me that I had to score since I was drafted in as an allrounder I tried the next day and succeeded I miss my dadThat walk to the Lordrsquos turfI was asked to bat at number three went in after Vikram Rathore got out Its a long walk towards the 22 yards of Lords I had to come down cross the Long Room and spoke to myself lsquono more looking back now I have been waiting for this opportunityrsquoEncouragement from SachinI do remember the partnerships I had with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid Sachin kept saying that I should continue batting in the same vein I had faced Dominic Cork for my first ball in Test cricket hit on the pad I got my first Test run off Dominic through a flickSachin helped me fix my bat handleI can remember one incident The handle of my best bat broke while playing I was mending the bat during the tea break when Sachin came up to me and helped me plaster it He urged me to continue playing with the same bat By the way I do have my first bat along with the bats with which I got all my hundredsGreatest moment of my lifeI just cannot compare the feeling of getting my first Test century to anything not possible It was the greatest moment of my life I found my teammates clapping for me and I got a standing ovation from everywhere in the ground I just cannot forget that moment a great honour I also realised that it was the same balcony from which Kapil Dev and his team sprayed champagne when India won the World Cup in 1983 I was 10 then but those memories last foreverAlso ReadWTC final Start of Day 4 delayed due to rain