With England set to take on Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in the third match of the ongoing one-day series, it will be match not to miss out on. However, Trent Bridge has a rich cricketing history and is one of the oldest cricket grounds in the world.
It happens to be the ground where former India captain Sourav Ganguly scored his second Test hundred, immediately after the dream debut at Lord’s in 1996. It was a debut that wasn’t to be if Navjot Singh Sidhu and then captain Mohammad Azharuddin were not involved in an off-field incident, which led to the former leaving England after the first Test. In came Ganguly and, boy, did he not disappoint. After his hundred at Lord’s, all eyes were on the young Bengal lad as he made his way out to the middle at Trent Bridge in the third Test. India won the toss and opted to bat, before losing both their openers for 33.
Then began a batting masterclass by Ganguly, and with him was Sachin Tendulkar. The duo staged a 255-run partnership with Ganguly scoring a brilliant 136 before falling to Alan Mullally. Tendulkar went on to make 177 and helped India to 521.
It was a young Ganguly back then, but his footwork was impeccable and so was his exquisite cover drive. He occasionally danced down the pitch to dispatch the ball over the bowler's head. All in all, it was an innings that showed us the pedigree that Ganguly was made of and the future of Indian cricket.
Eventually, the Test was drawn with Mike Atherton and Naseer Hussain scoring centuries for England. But Ganguly was the find of the tour and was adjudged the player of the match and the series.
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