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| Sourav |
Visakhapatnam: ‘Dada what a comeback’, ‘Dada bowling-bowling’ were the impassioned comments as Sourav Ganguly kept himself busy at the fabulous Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, some 15 kms from the heart of this port city, late on Friday morning.
Sourav couldn’t spot the fans as they were some 300 metres away from Team India’s practice area, but smiled nevertheless. “God has been kind... What else can I say? Nothing would’ve happened without God... I’ve been blessed,” Sourav told The Telegraph emotionally.
Indeed, after having made the most glittering of comebacks (both in Tests and ODIs), Sourav even brought off the mother of all catches in Goa the other day. “Well, as I’ve said, it’s all due to God’s blessings,” he maintained.
After finishing as Team India’s highest scorer in the three-Test series in South Africa, Sourav’s ODI scores have been impressive: 98 (Nagpur), 13 (Cuttack), 68 (Vadodara, all against the West Indies); 62 (Rajkot) and 48 (Goa, both versus Sri Lanka).
With a bit of luck and judicious shot selection, Sourav could have got a hundred each time he crossed fifty. Now, it’s to be seen what’s in store in the fourth and final ODI of the ongoing series. The scoreline reads 1-1.
Sourav, of course, is hoping Team India make a “strong finish.” As he put it: “We’ve played good cricket over the past few weeks, but we’ve got to end on a high, too... Tomorrow, after all, is our last ODI before the World Cup...”
The Stadium (which is just off the National Highway which leads to Bhubaneswar and Calcutta), by the way, has so far hosted only one ODI — India-Pakistan almost two years ago. Sourav’s men then won big, with MoM Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashing all of 148 off 123 balls (at No. 3).
Asked if this was an emotional return, Dhoni laughed and replied: “It’s nice to come back, but that’s it... I live in the present, not the past... My first ODI hundred is something that happened a long time back... My thoughts are on the decider...”
Just about everybody else’s as well.
