It Was The Passion That He Showed In Celebration: Graeme Smith Recalls Sourav Ganguly's Iconic Celebration At The Lord's Balcony
Updated - 13 Jul 2020, 07:42 PM
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Sourav Ganguly’s iconic celebration in the immediate aftermath of the Natwest Trophy final is a part of folklore. Graeme Smith, former South Africa cricketer recalled India’s miraculous win in the Natwest Trophy final and captain Sourav Ganguly’s iconic twirling of the shirt in the Lord’s balcony on its 18th anniversary.
Whenever the history of Indian white-ball cricket will be written, 13th July 2002 will find itself mentioned its red-letters.
After-all it was a win that gave Team India a belief that anything and everything is possible on a cricket if one has the desire to grit out; it was a win that gave the team and its fans a belief that they can win a game of cricket even if the ‘God of Cricket’ misses out; it was a win that parachuted two youngsters- Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh- to superstardom; it was a win that sent the signal to the entire world that this was an Indian team that wasn’t going to get bogged down by pressure or intimidation.
Post the victory, Sourav Ganguly proceeded to twirl his shirt on the Lord’s balcony. Recalling Ganguly’s celebration, Graeme Smith said-
“I think all of us remember that celebration, it was a beautiful sight, seeing Dada [Ganguly]. More than anything besides the humour of it all, it was the passion that he showed in celebration.” Graeme Smith said on Sourav Ganguly’s celebration on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’
“It showed how much India winning meant to him and to overcome the challenge of winning the NatWest Trophy in England, to win away from home, driving Indian cricket forward. I think that shot epitomizes everything we have discussed today. But I do have a chuckle every time I see it now. Also, Dada was running short on the hair side on those days, so it is a very humorous shot. But from a passion perspective, that speaks volumes.” the former South African captain and its current director added.
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Coming back to the game, India were up against it in the finals. England, on the back of hundreds from Marcus Trescothick and skipper Nasser Hussain, had posted 325 runs in 50 overs. No team in the history of the game had chased 325 to win an ODI.
Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag gave the Men in Blue a perfect start as they racked up 106 runs in just over 15 overs before tragedy struck.
Alex Tudor got the prized scalp of Sourav Ganguly which triggered a collapse as India lost their next five wickets- including that of Sachin Tendulkar for 5- for 40 runs and at 5-146, the Men in Blue needed a miracle.
And, that is exactly what they got from the duo of Yuvraj and Kaif. The duo ran well between the wickets and in between stroked some sumptuous strokes during their game-changing 121-run stand.
Yuvraj was finally dismissed for 69 when he top-edged one straight to short fine-leg but Mohammad Kaif [87*] kept his cool and along with Harbhajan Singh and later Zaheer took India past the finishing line.
