Dona Ganguly with daughter Sana: No missing the action

When it comes to catching her husband at work, the first lady of Indian cricket tries her best to be as close to the action as possible. Especially when the action happens to be a high point in his career.

Come Tuesday morning, when Sourav Ganguly leads his men on to the Sydney Cricket Ground to keep a tryst with cricketing history, there’ll be just one place for Dona Ganguly to be — in front of the TV at home. Two-year-old daughter Sana should be by her side for most of the day.

“I just want India to take all 10 wickets and win the match,” was Dona’s only wish on the eve of the final day of Sourav’s showdown with Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Aussies.

Dona, who was by the skipper’s side till last week, returned to her Behala home this weekend, and has been following every ball that’s been bowled ever since. She took a break on Monday afternoon to briefly be with her dance guru, Kelucharan Mahapatra, at a workshop at the Calcutta School of Music.

“I couldn’t always make it to the ground while I was in Australia because I had to look after Sana, but I watched the game on TV with her every day. The rest of the Sydney Test, too, I’ve watched at home, all day, with my daughter,” said Dona.

Sourav, of course, makes it a point to call home without fail, “He calls every day, mostly to find out about Sana and how everything and everyone here is, but we don’t really discuss cricket very much,” admitted Dona.

While at one level she would rather be closer to the action now, coming back home is quite a relief for Dona. Her experience on the Australia tour explains just why: “It was a mix. Obviously it was nice to go there and be with Sourav, but it was hard work, too. Here, there are a lot of people to take care of Sana, but there, we had to do it ourselves.”

If the wife was slightly hassled, the daughter had a blast. “It was nice for her (Sana) to spend so much time with her dad, because he’s off most of the time and she doesn’t get to see him so often. And Sourav did spend a lot of time with Sana,” added Dona.

Although she claims to have no superstitions — nor is she “afraid or apprehensive” of the outcome of the final 90 overs to be bowled for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy — Dona would rather not entertain any talk of celebrations till the last ball on the tour is bowled.

“He (Sourav) won’t be back till February, which is a long time away,” was the final word from Dona.

In another room of the Ganguly home, elder brother Snehashish Ganguly will be glued to the TV till 9 am, when he must leave for work.

“There’s too much pressure on (Anil) Kumble… And so Sachin (Tendulkar) will have an important role to play, as he will surely bowl a good number of overs,” mused the former Bengal skipper, adding that on the evidence from Down Under, Team India is definitely the “best batting side in world”. That’s been on paper for some time now, but this time “everything has clicked”.