Dada's bond with Chinnaswamy

Dada's bond with Chinnaswamy

Source: DNA India Date: October 14, 2008

BANGALORE: The Chinnaswamy stadium will always hold a special place in former India captain Sourav Ganguly's heart. Over the past one year, this is the place all the action has centered around for the Dada of Indian cricket.

It was at this very ground that Ganguly scored the only double century of his Test career last year against Pakistan. And, ironic as it may seem, it was here that he announced his retirement from international cricket a day before the first Test against Australia.

In a career spanning more than a decade, Ganguly has played 7 Test matches at Bangalore, scoring 503 runs at an average of 41.91, the December 2007 Test played here against Pakistan being the highlight of his career. He scored a dazzling 239 in the first innings, his highest Test score, and followed it up with a classy 91 in the second innings. He completely dominated the Pakistani bowlers in both innings, two of the best innings of his career, and got 330 runs, the highest ever he had scored in a Test match.

The superlative performance earned him the man of the match and the man of the series awards, in the process silencing his critics who wanted him to retire. But, as luck would have it, eleven months later, at the same venue, Ganguly decided to hang up his boots from international cricket.

Playing his last Test at the Chinnaswamy, Ganguly scored a gutsy 47 in the first innings to rescue his team from following on. In the second innings he walked in to bat for the last time at Bangalore, with India fighting for survival on the last day of the match. Ganguly made 26 cautious runs as he remained unbeaten along with Laxman to save India from defeat.

Earlier in the day, Ganguly, not known to be the best of fielders, was seen putting in the extra effort whether fielding at mid-on or at third man.

Even the spectators cheered whenever Ganguly got into the act on the field, as they know it's going to be his last appearance here. He has again emerged a hero at Chinnaswamy; things have come a full circle.