Ganguly to lead MCC side at Lord's

Dada will soon be back in his dream home.

Sourav Ganguly will lead Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in a 20-over match against a Shahid Afridi-led Pakistan team on June 27 at Lord’s. The team will have the likes of Prince of Trinidad Brian Lara, Aussie veteran all-rounder Ian Harvey and Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas.

ganguly: back in action

Of late, Ganguly has been in excellent touch. He was the third highest run-getter in the Indian Premier League for his team Kolkata Knight Riders this season, scoring 493 runs with seven fifties in the tournament. Although his strike was not too high, he played some sterling innings to suggest he is as good a player as he was ten years ago.

The match is part of the sponsorship agreement between the Pakistan board and the MCC. Pakistan is also scheduled to play Australia in two Tests before a four-match Test series against hosts England, and Twenty20s against both teams as well. The neutral series against Australia in July will be sponsored by MCC.

“Brian Lara is one of the finest batsmen to have ever played the game and Sourav Ganguly is a world-leading Twenty20 cricketer. The match will provide spectators with a fantastic opportunity to see wonderful cricket and great cricketers,” said MCC Head of Cricket John Stephenson.

Ganguly has cherished memories of Lord’s of his Test debut when he scored his first century here for India in 1996. It was here that along with Rahul Dravid he started his journey to become one of the prime figures in Indian cricket, going on to be one of the greatest one-day batsmen of all time and the most successful Indian skipper. He retired from international cricket after the Test series against Australia in October, 2008.