Disappointed at Sourav Ganguly being kept out of the coming ODI series, Bangladesh cricket fans are now eagerly looking forward to see the former Indian captain in action in the two Test matches during the latter half of the tour.
DHAKA: Disappointed at Sourav Ganguly being kept out of the coming ODI series, Bangladesh cricket fans are now eagerly looking forward to see the former Indian captain in action in the two Test matches during the latter half of the tour.
Ganguly, who has a huge fan following in Bangladesh, was dropped along with another senior pro Sachin Tendulkar by the Indian selectors for the three One-Day Internationals, but has included in the Test squad.
"We love and adore Ganguly. He is a born fighter. People in our country did not like the way he was dropped from the Indian team. But we liked every bit of the great comeback that he made. He also did well in the World Cup. So, we had expected to see him in both the ODIs and Tests," said Ali Noor Islam Khan, who owns a food and confectionery shop in Ghaus-e-Pak Bhawan market complex.
Insan Ali, a youth in his early 20s, was effusive in his praise for Ganguly. "He is a great captain. I have a feeling that India would have done well if had he been at the helm of affairs. I will definitely go to the Mirpur stadium for the first Test and see him bat."
The mass appeal Ganguly commands in this Bangladesh capital is largely due to the fact that he comes from West Bengal, and speaks the same mother tongue Bengali - as the majority of the population in this nation.
West Bengal and Bangladesh together formed the undivided Bengal during the British Raj before becoming parts of two separate sovereign nations, India and Pakistan in 1947.
Bangladesh later gained independence in 1975.
Ganguly has an impressive record on Bangladesh soil, as he captained India to victories in each of the three Tests the one-off match in 2000-01 and both games in 2004-05.
Though yet to score any Test century in any of the Bangladesh venues, Ganguly has played successful knocks in each of the three innings, coming out with scores of 84, 71 and 88.
He has also played 17 ODIs in Bangladesh, ten of them as captains, and struck two hundreds.
A BCB official recalled that Ganguly's presence in the Indian team had boosted ticket sales on earlier occasions.
"He has always been a big draw for the crowd, just like Sachin Tendulkar," he said.
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