Ganguly's faith on ‘broken bat’

MELBOURNE: Australia can think of a simple plan to get rid of Sourav Ganguly, who will be making his 100th Test appearance at the MCG on Wednesday.

The hosts only need to get rid of the 'broken bat' which Ganguly carries with him as a good luck charm.

Apparently, Ganguly's affair with the bat started in his very first Test at Lord's 11 seasons ago.

It was the game where Ganguly against all odds made a scintillating century in his debut Test to herald his arrival.

Towards the latter part of his innings, Ganguly apparently began to feel that the handle of the bat was giving way but he still persisted with it.

So enamoured was Ganguly with the bat that he continued to use it in the second Test at Trent Bridge of the 1996 series against England and as luck would have it, struck a classy 131.

The particular bat of SG brand, of Sunny Gold series, is still tugged along in Ganguly's kit bag as a lucky mascot. After these two knocks, Ganguly got a bat sponsorship contract with Slazenger, a British bat manufacturing firm.

It reveals the superstitious side of a cricketer who has the reputation to fight tooth and nail and achieve what he wants to achieve on a cricket field.