Sourav wanted to open but sacrificed his batting order, says Deep Dasgupta
Internet Desk: May 05, 2012 will forever remain in the minds of Sourav Ganguly fans in Kolkata. For the first time in the ten years history of Indian Premier League (IPL), a match generated so much hype. The City of Joy was clearly divided on that night. There was a sea of purple along with the sky blue colour in the stands as the fans were clearly divided on that day. The pre-match hype was all about the Prince of Kolkata taking on his former franchise.
The Pune Warriros captain was in pressure as the team had failed to live up to its expectation. Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat first, putting on 150 runs. Pune Warriors were in a spot as half the side were in the pavilion with the score at 55 runs only. Surprising the packed stadium, Ganguly walked into bat at No.7 amidst loud cheers.
In the words of Deep Dasgupta, who was the Cricket Operations Manager then with Pune Warriors, “It was an electifying atmosphere at the Eden Gardens. There was plenty of Warriors jerseys and flags in the stands, something we were not expecting.”
The former India wicket-keeper batsman still feel bemused with Ganguly’s decision to come down the batting order.
According to Deep, “He was the captain of the side. He wanted to open the innings. But he decided against it and came in to bat at No. 7. May be the team wasn’t in good rhythm going into the match. Uthappa and Jesse Ryder opened the batting with Michael Clarke going in at No. 3. May be it was his conscious decision to bat down the order.”
The chants only grew louder as Ganguly took guard against Sunil Narine. The charismatic left hander initially struggled against the mystery spinner, failing to score of the first four deliveries he faced. He then slashed Jacques Kallis over mid-off and upper cut him over the slips to bring cheers to his loyal fans. The former India captain raised hopes for the visiting team as he buid a partnership with Angelo Mathews. The Sri Lankan all-rounder hit three consecutive sixes over the leg side off Yusuf Pathan.
The match was nicely poised with Pune Warriors requiring 42 runs off the last 30 balls. Narine bowled a brilliant 16th over where he strangled Ganguly for any room. The Pune Warriors captain welcomed Rajat Bhatia, by hitting a flat six to raise hopes of turnaround. But it was never going to be the homecoming Ganguly hoped for as he was held in the deep three balls later. He walked back dejected after scoring 35 runs off 36 balls.
Kolkata loyalists got what they wanted – a win, plus a contribution from Ganguly. What couldn’t be measured, though, was how many of the 60,000 odd that showed up were rooting for a Warriors win.
Abhijit Sarkar, one of the Pune Warriors owners said, “We arranged a party for the team which got cancelled after the loss. We were very much in the match till Sourav and Mathews was at the crease. The atmosphere was electrifying as we got a vociferous support from the Eden crowd, thanks to Sourav’s charisma.”
Knight Riders all rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who fielded brilliantly that night shared, “We also had a huge support but it was unbeleivable to see half the stands cheering for a man. Such was the charisma of Dadi (Sourav). Talking about the match, the win gave us the much needed momentum as we went on become the champions for the first time.”
Knight Riders media manager Joy Bhattacharya claimed, “We were feeling the heat as the match generated so much hype. We didn’t expected so many fans to turn out to support an opponent team at Eden Gardens. I still remember Iqbal Abdulla took the catch of Ganguly. His catch turned the match in our favour as the partnership between Mathews and Ganguly looked ominous. Sourav hit a flat six off Bhatia in the first ball of the 17th over. But his wicket brought us back into the match.”