When Tendulkar and Dravid laughed about Multan Test declaration decision

He doesn’t stop there as he reminds Dravid of the Sydney Test a few months back when Rahul, batting with Tendulkar and approaching his hundred, had insisted on batting on despite Ganguly’s suggestion of declaring from the dressing room. “If Rahul was so keen to show intent when in Multan, he should have done the same in Sydney,” he writes.

On Wednesday, the old controversy had been re-ignited and all Dravid needed to do was react. Ganguly too could be expected to add his two bit and the nation would have been divided all over again. India was so close to settling into an adda, and taking sides.

It didn’t go as planned though. Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar came across as long-time partners who were at peace with disagreements. “If I had got one rupee for every time I was asked a question about Multan, I would have been a multi-millionaire,” said Dravid when the thorny issue was raised. “When you have played together for 16 years, you will have agreements and disagreements.” The India No.3 insisted that he treasures the good memories from his journey with Tendulkar. Like giving Tendulkar the ball in that Test in the final over and the latter coming up with the wicket of Moin Khan.

Tendulkar, a day before, in an informal chat with reporters, had spoken about how there was no animosity between him and his former mates and thus he wasn’t conscious about writing about them. “Whatever I have stated in my book I have been transparent with my teammates, so I don’t think there is any animosity in the team. Whatever I have written everyone knows about, except things like the Greg comment.”

During the Multan Test discussion, Ganguly, who wasn’t part of the game but was in the dressing room nursing an injury, sat with a smile on his face. The vexed issues from the past – like who should open the innings? – was now a topic to pull each other’s legs. Ganguly said how he often stepped down the order so that Tendulkar could open. Dravid too would remind the audience that even he had made way for Laxman to bat at No.3. More smiles and a high-five between Dravid and Laxman would follow. Mutual admiration was the theme of the evening when the first insider account of that time when Indian cricket’s golden generation inhabited the dressing room, went public.

And like it always happens when old friends meet, there was also a bad-mouthing session involving someone not around and equally hated by everyone on the table. They took turns to talk about coach Greg Chappell, under whom the team of stars had the big fall during the 2007 World Cup. Tendulkar, of course, spoke of the negative vibes in the dressing room when Greg was in charge. He also narrated an incident when he told Ian how he regularly changed his stance. Around him they nodded in agreement. It almost seemed like old classmates, throwing darts at that one teacher in school they’d all hated.