When Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid provided a 'fanboy moment' for Jos Buttler

What’s the story?

England’s dynamic wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler has taken a trip down memory lane and shared one of his first ‘fanboy moments’ of watching the legendary Indian duo of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid demolish Sri Lankan spin maestro Muttiah Muralitharan during a group match in the 1999 World Cup.

He also recollected a funny incident involving the stylish Aravinda de Silva.

In a video posted on Mumbai Indians’ official Twitter handle, Buttler reminisced, “I went to watch India against Sri Lanka at Taunton in a World Cup game, and Ganguly got 183 I think and Dravid got about 150. Taunton was Somerset – my home. Watching these guys play against Muralitharan and smashing him out of the ground into the river – that was probably my earliest fanboy moments of cricket, watching those guys.”

He added, “I used to try and get everyone’s autographs; You can run around the boundary and get autographs. I remember Aravinda de Silva, I was trying to get his autograph and then something must have happened. He’d take my pen, he had signed, and then he must have got moved or something, so he ran off. And he ran off with my pen. And I remember running back to my mum crying that Aravinda de Silva had stolen my pen.”

The Context

The 1999 World Cup, held in England & Wales, featured numerous star attractions from the various participating teams. Under Steve Waugh’s captaincy, Australia eventually lifted the coveted trophy.

The heart of the matter

"He stole my pen!" @josbuttler takes us through his fanboy moment and find out who stole his pen! #CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/LVcLz7tRbC

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 12, 2017

At the County Ground in Taunton, the then 8-year old Buttler witnessed a glorious partnership between Ganguly and Dravid. The duo came together after India had lost the early wicket of Sadagopan Ramesh. Taking on a formidable bowling attack comprising Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, they put on a staggering 318 runs for the second wicket and paved the way for a daunting total of 373.

While Ganguly smashed a 158-ball 183, Dravid piled on the agony for the Sri Lankans with 145 runs off 129 balls. They relentlessly attacked Muralitharan who ended up with figures of 10-0-60-0. In the end, India won the game by a massive margin of 157 runs.

What’s next?

Buttler has left the Mumbai Indians camp in order to return to England for their upcoming home ODI series against South Africa. The first of the three matches is slated to begin on the 24^th at the Headingley Stadium.

Author’s Take

The 1999 World Cup would have been a major influence on an eager Buttler who has gone on to forge a handy international career for himself. Meanwhile, de Silva could have forgotten about the missing pen amidst the spectators’ eagerness to get his autograph. It will be interesting to see if Buttler meets him and recollects the funny incident.