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Journalism of Courage
The much-talked about dismissal of the day was VVS Laxman’s run out with Sourav Ganguly at the other end. The players have 35 international run outs between them — 23 Ganguly and 12 Laxman. They are not among the fittest in the team. Add to that the recent communication problems between them during the Zimbabwe series. You have a disaster waiting to happen.
It did. With the score reading 109/4 and Laxman seemingly comfortable despite Muralitharan and Fernando bowling in tandem. Laxman pushed the ball to mid-wicket and took off. Ganguly, too, left the crease, but soon changed his mind. It was too late for Laxman to return, and Sangakkara knocked off the stumps.
It was a strange sight — two batsmen waiting at two ends of the pitch with their eyes fixed on the third eye. As the red light was flashed Laxman passed Ganguly — they seemed like two strangers crossing each other on a busy street. No words were exchanged as Laxman headed to the hut and Ganguly gardening the pitch with his bat.
Later in the day, while fielding, there seemed like a debate sparked between the two. As Ganguly passed Laxman during a over changeover the two had a longish animated exchange. At the end of the day’s play when the Indians left the field things seemed to have been sorted out. Laxman had his arms around Ganguly as the two walked towards the dressing room.
There was pressure on the two considering that both have been sidelined from the ODI squad lately. With the days didn’t quite going their way — Laxman 5 runs, Ganguly 5 runs and 16 runs from two overs — the heat was certainly on.
