Sourav Ganguly is planning a reunion of his teammates to celebrate the silver jubilee of the historic 2001 Eden Gardens Test win against Australia.
India bounced back after following-on on the back of VVS Laxman’s 281 and Rahul Dravid’s 180 to beat Australia by 171 runs and level the series after losing the opener in Mumbai. They subsequently won the third Test in Chennai and clinched the series.
“Yes, we will have a reunion at the Eden. I was planning it (earlier this month), but it got delayed because of Sachin Tendulkar’s son’s wedding,” Sourav said on the sidelines of the launch of Miracle At Eden, a book by Sportstar commemorating 25 years of the iconic Test.
Sourav rates Steve Waugh’s team as the best he had seen and the victory against them will always stay ahead of his other achievements.
“It’s about talent and quality of players. Steve Waugh’s team was too good and unbeatable. For me, it was trying to find players with X-factor. It was about finding the right kind of players to do it for you,” he said.
Sourav knew his captaincy was on the line if he didn’t win that series and went against the selectors’ wish to pick Harbhajan Singh, who took 32 wickets in the three Tests.
“I saw Harbhajan at the National Cricket Academy during one of my visits and was impressed with the bounce he had been generating along with the turn. After the Mumbai debacle, the selectors were after my life to drop Harbhajan. But I had noticed the spark in him. With no (Anil) Kumble (because of a shoulder surgery), I had to find someone and banked on him,” he recalled.