‘Because from the start to the end no matter what I pretend, the journey is more important than the end or the start. And what it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard.’There was Linkin Park playing full blast Sunday morning. The electrifying atmosphere had caught the city of Nagpur in a frenzy once the news spread that Sourav Ganguly had walked out to bat. Those who’d fought through the queues to book their tickets for the match had also brought their amps along. From the devout mass goers at the nearby All Saints’ Cathedral to the average cricket fan in the city, they had stopped right in their tracks when India had gotten off to a gripping start at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium against the West Indies. Because at the helm of India’s willow-wielding men was the batsman who had helped them carry on endless debates all of last year. Ganguly’s return to one-day cricket began with an innings that defined courage, maturity and above all the zeal that he had somehow lost over the last couple of years. When he began India’s innings along with Gautam Gambhir, the southpaw batted like he had every reason to prove his life depended on it. The classic cover-drives, those lofted shots, the sleek cut — they were all there in Ganguly’s batting, easily reminding the way he had played when it was still 2003-04.When he ran himself out in the 39th over, he missed his hundred by two runs. Nevertheless, he had earned the privilege to take the helmet off, while walking back, and wave the bat to the thousands of fans who had come to see him. “It was satisfying,” he would say after India had eventually won the match in the evening. But when he batted, there was more to listen from him. Ganguly’s batting on Sunday wasn’t just the Maharaj kind, where he would once push the ball outside the off-stump gently through the covers and wait for another similar delivery to come his way. This time, he made the effort. The drives were coming and the timing went right but Ganguly also tried to look for runs the harder way. He ran for singles and the doubles — 36 of his 98 came from running between the wickets — with an effort that gave him cramps during the end of his innings. When the loose balls came, he smashed them to the ropes, hitting three sixes and eleven fours. “Ganguly set up the game for us. It was a very good innings, especially because he was coming back after a long time. It’s a great sign and he stayed at the wicket and set up the game for us,’’ said Dravid after the match, won by 14 runs, though the team had just about managed to restrict the West Indies by 13 runs after scoring a mammoth 338. The ovation didn’t just come from the Indian captain but his counterpart too. “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,’’ Lara said of Ganguly. The Bengal southpaw, elated with his performance, strode across from the pavilion to the team bus waiting outside the hotel with the contentment on his face of a job well done. “I hope to continue batting this way. This was a good match and a good beginning,’’ he claimed. After 15 months of exile, few have managed to tilt the tide in their favour like Ganguly did here in Nagpur, bafflingly in the same city where his troubles once began. (West Indies run out of steam, fall 14 short: page 23)Sourav Ganguly in figures• Sourav Ganguly completed his 1000 runs against the West Indies in 25 ODIs. He is the third Indian to achieve the feat, joining Sachin Tendulkar (1411) and Rahul Dravid (1187).• Ganguly’s innings is his highest against West Indies, surpassing his 83 at Dhaka.• Ganguly has now been dismissed in the 90s six times.• The 144-run stand between Gautam Gambhir and Sourav Ganguly is India’s highest partnership for the first wicket in 20 innings.
