Related Links : India’s tour of England : Rahul Dravid : Sachin Tendulkar : Sourav Ganguly
India will rely heavily on its three kings, Dravid, Ganguly and Sachin in the middle order to take scores on the board somewhere around 400 plus whenever they take guard against the formidable English bowling attack. We all know what they can do when they get in, but here we try to look at their achievements and magical moments in the land of pioneers of the game where two of the three big names, Dravid and Ganguly made their debut in Test cricket.
Reliable Dravid: Rahul Dravid played six tests in England before this current tour which yielded one victory, one loss and four draws. But numbers show that England has been a good hunting ground for “The Wall”. Average of 87.66 in 6 Tests with three hundreds and one of which is big double hundred at the Oval in 2002 shows that he likes the cold and calm ambience of English cricket. Personally, 148 at Leeds in 2002 series must have been the most fulfilling knock for the great man because his 148 in that match set the foundation of a big Indian total and of Indian victory as well. It was the same match in which the other two kings of Indian cricket – Sachin and Ganguly made 193 and 128 respectively and took India to colossal 628 which left England hopeless and clueless. The ongoing 2007 series will be another big test for an arguably greatest Test batsman in Indian line-up because this time he has another responsibility of leading his team into the ground.
Modern Master Sachin: There is hardly any Test ground in the world where Sachin went and failed to register some big knocks there, so it is futile to talk about what he had done in the past in English conditions. Obviously, he flagged the Indian flag amidst his usual thrilling run-making on past tours. Sachin represented India in 10 Tests in England before the Lord’s one in 2007 which gave him more than 1000 runs (1074 to be exact) with sterling average of 71.60 with 4 hundreds and 4 fifties. His four scores in excess of hundred were all big – 119 in 1990, 122 and 177 in 1996, and finally the most crucial century of his excursions to England of 193 in 2002 which was the only match-winning century amongst his four in total in England. It came in the same match where Dravid and Ganguly got together to nail England up. Tendulkar has nothing to prove except his current vein of form which he has already displayed in tour match. Hopefully, he will get his act right to win Test series abroad which is becoming a jinx for Indian cricket.
Fighter Ganguly: There have been many moments in Dada’s cricketing career where circumstances tried to pushed him aside and tried to tell that he is not a good enough Test batsman on the basis of his inability to face the short-pitch stuff. But Dada is usually a title for the man who has seen all of this and still gets ready to see the storms of life again with the same attitude. In the recent past, Ganguly was treated as a forgotten lion of Indian cricket but his persistence paid off and he is again in the forefront of match-winners for the English tour. His six outings in England yielded him 666 runs (ominous number) with three hundreds and three fifties. His only match winning knock of 128 came in the same match where Dravid and Sachin also helped immensely in amassing the only victory of their Test career in England. His reflexes would have come under strict scrutiny against the bouncy stuff against the likes of Harmison but then the hernia injury to Harmy has ruled out any battle.
If these three big names punch a combined effort then things will be difficult to retrieve for the English camp definitely. Utility of these three kings can be gauged that when they made runs, Indian won at the Leeds in 2002, so all we can ask is that they deliver and deliver it at the same time in the same inning and in the same match to encore 2002.