Debuts really don't come better than this. On June 22, 1996, 20 years ago, a certain Sourav Ganguly came out to bat in the morning, on an overnight score of 26 with India at 83/2 in the second Test against England. The then-24-year-old was making his debut and, fittingly, that too at the home of the game, the Lord's Cricket Ground.

And what a debut it was. Through the day, Ganguly shook off the seaming conditions and gave the world the first sight of those cover drives. The bat moved like a rapier and the ball kept on easing through the gaps on the off-side, careening into the cover boundary. It was graceful, it was languid and it was the Prince of Kolkata demonstrating that he belonged on the international stage.

Ganguly was dismissed for 131, but his debut was not the only one that provided a glimpse of the new era that was to come for Indian cricket. Rahul Dravid also made his debut for India in that match – he joined Ganguly at the crease when the score was 202/5. The two put on a 94-run partnership before Ganguly was dismissed. Dravid, however, carried on into the fourth day and was unlucky to have not got his own debut century, falling short by just five runs.

And while Ganguly's century has gone down in folkore, what is often forgotten is that Dada, as he is fondly called, didn't have too bad a debut as a bowler as well. He took three wickets over two innings, with Nasser Hussain being his first ever wicket in international cricket, caught by Vikram Rathour at slip after an initial fumble.