Rewind: On this day in 2002, Sourav Ganguly introduced dadagiri to the home of cricket
That match and all the emotions associated with it.
It has gone down in Indian cricketing folklore. The defining image was of a bare-chested Sourav Ganguly, waving his shirt on the Lord's balcony, delirious with joy after India's stunning victory over England on this day, July 13, in the final of the NatWest Series, 14 years ago.
@StarSportsIndia Sourav Ganguly celebrates by removing his shirt. Unforgettable moment.. #Lords2002 #TheWinnersWay pic.twitter.com/YVU5O1Ktoz
— Azimuddin Molla (@AzimuddinMolla) August 12, 2015
But there were so many subplots in that series. India had played wonderful cricket in the preceding tri-series, also involving Sri Lanka, to make it to the final. They should have ideally started favourites, but they had lost their last nine consecutive finals, which led to many doubting them.
It seemed like a trend that would continue. England batted first and shook off the early loss of Nick Knight to put up a towering 325/5 in their 50 overs. Marcus Trescothick scored a century but the star of England's innings was Nasser Hussain, who scored a defiant 115 and, on reaching his century, touched his shirt number (3) and gestured to the press box, answering critics who had questioned why he was batting in that position.
India looked like they were up for the scrap. Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag put together a 109-run opening partnership in just 15 overs. Both of them looked equally good, creaming the English attack as Sehwag got 45 and Ganguly 60.
But then the all-too-familiar collapse happened. Sehwag and Ganguly were dismissed and suddenly India were sinking. The other big guns, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, were also back in the pavilion and India had slipped to 146/5.
The knives were already being sharpened. Another loss in the finals. But no one had read history to the two young turks of the team then, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh. The two put their heads down and got to work. And slowly but surely, they dragged India back into the match. Singh scored a 63-ball 69, Kaif remained unbeaten on 87, and they put together a priceless 121 runs.
The video below shows the highlights from the entire match:
But the above video only gives you a glimpse of those extraordinary celebrations. So here it is, those tense last few moments and the incredible celebrations that followed.
