We For Victory 2004: Saurav Ganguly. The first-ever series win in Pakistan and first away series win in 11 Years. Therefore, Sourav Ganguly India’s Most Successful Captain now.
On March 9, 2004, one day before the team set off on its epic voyage, The Times of India caught up with Sourav Ganguly. India had never won a Test in Pakistan, we pointed out. History means little to me,” responded the Indian captain. That might change, now that his team has made so much of it. Fifty-two years after India’s first tour of Pakistan, and 14 years after the last Indian visit there, and a little over a month after landing to a rapturous reception in Lahore, Ganguly’s warriors did the seemingly unthinkable-win a series in Pakistan.
Fabulous Friday also ended an 11- year wait for a Test series triumph away from home. The last one came against Sri Lanka in 1993. Fittingly, India’s Rawalpindi rampage-it won by an innings and 131 runs-made Ganguly the country’s most successful captain ever. He has now led India to 15 triumphs in 38 Tests, overtaking Azharuddin’s record of 14 wins in 47 matches. Unlike Azhar’s record of predominantly home wins, Ganguly’s victories have been spread over eight nations. The message is clear-this squad can take on anyone, anywhere.
And do they know how to party. The bubbly was uncorked and Rahul Dravid, Ratnakar Shetty and Yuvraj Singh spiritedly doused each other Ramesh Powar was tickled by one and all, with Sehwag, typically enjoying the best strike rate. Yasir Hameed. Imran Nazir, Yousuf Youhana and Imran Farhat wanted T-shirts autographed by the Indians. Nehra, Laxman and Kaif obliged. As the team returned to its hotel, Pakistani fans lined up at the entrance and cheered it in.
It was an outcome few would have dared predict when the team landed in Pakistan. Would the famed batting line-up be able to handle Shoaib & Co. and the pressure of an Indo-Pak series? How would the attack, made up mostly of inexperienced, injury prone youngsters, ever dismiss the opposition twice? It took a team’s effort to prove the doomsayers wrong The veterans didn’t disappoint. Stars like Sehwag and Yuvraj took huge strides towards superstardom, and young Turks like Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji and stand in opener Parthiv Patel came good when it counted.
Winning the One-dayers and the Tests in Pakistan is very special, exulted Ganguly His counterpart, Inzamam-ul-Haq, was visibly disappointed. And the recriminations weren’t long in coming. Shoaib Akhtar was singled out for letting down the team Inzamam also said he would ask the Pakistan Cricket Board to take action against players who had dented team spirit. BCCI, meanwhile, announced a Rs 50 lakh bonus for the team. The rest of the country joined the celebrations, with fans taking out processions and bursting crackers And Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee proclaimed at an election rally in Korba, “When I was sending the team to Pakistan, everyone was in doubt.
