Soon after India defeated West Indies in the thrilling Nagpur ODI, former cricket coach, Raju Mukherjee left no time to comment that India will win the World Cup only if Sourav is the captain. He says it is as simple as that.
Coming out of all odds, the 34-year-old Ganguly proved that long wait of 16 months has only shored up his strong desire for run. He showed classy selection of shots in his aggressive knock of 98 runs.
Praising Ganguly, West Indies skipper Brian Lara said,
Unfortunately Ganguly didn’t get a hundred. He’s a player of high class and you expect performances like that. We know he’s eager to get back and you got to give him credit. He’s mentally strong and to come back and do well shows he’s very capable. Batting out there he showed how eager he was.
Ganguly may be bit upset for missing near-reached century, but Team India gives special weightage to his innings. He made a royal come back to ODI at a time when his team has been drastically suffering due to poor show by openers.
With this vigorous batting, Ganguly claimed himself to be one of the strong contenders for a place in World Cup squad. The most successful former skipper and one of the 10,000 elite club members, Ganguly played a pivotal role to take India into final of 2003 world cup.
Image: Cricinfo
