5 Indians who flourished in England

Sourav Ganguly

Rahul Dravid might have missed out on a hundred on debut, but there was another bloke from Kolkata who made his debut in the same game and got his name on Lord’s honours board in his first game.

Sourav Ganguly who also made his debut in that 1996 Lord’s Test scored a memorable 131 on debut. He followed this up with another majestic ton at Trent Bridge. He made 136 and a fighting 48 in the second innings of that Trent Bridge Test match and announced himself on the world stage.

Like Dravid, Ganguly loved travelling to England. In 2002, he went as captain and scored 351 runs (three fifties and one hundred) and led India to a draw in that four-match Test series. In 2007 again, he was one of India’s standout batsmen. He scored 249 runs in the three-match Test series at an average of almost 50.

Even in ODIs in England, Ganguly scored more than 1000 runs. In fact, one of his most memorable ODI knocks came at Lord’s in the famous 2002 Natwest series final when he scored a 43-ball 60 and helped India get off to a flier chasing 325.

Hence, like Dravid, England has been a special place for the ‘Prince of Kolkata’. It all began there and it kicked started his career.