Sourav Ganguly reveals Sachin Tendulkar’s bat taping act of generosity on his debut Test

Sourav Ganguly’s cricketing experiences were revealed in his recently released book "A Century is Not Enough" and in an interview with NDTV, the former Indian captain revealed an incident involving Sachin Tendulkar during his debut Test at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in 1996 and the latter had helped him in taping his bat during the tea break to make Ganguly comfortable.

"I quickly came in after batting for six hours. My handle had creaked. I was padded up and a cup of tea was given to me. The tea is very short...of 15 minutes. I was tying my bat handle with the tape so he walked up to me and said 'you just rest and finish your cup of tea because you have to go and bat, I will do the job,” said Ganguly in the interview, reported AFP.

On March 6 in the year 2008, the 45-year-old played his final Test Match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur and managed to score a gritty 85 in the first innings but was out for a golden duck in the second innings. He had a perfect ending to his career as India won the match by 172 runs. While Ganguly has always been tipped as the best Indian captain in the modern era, he revealed a few things about MS Dhoni in his autobiography.

MS Dhoni had made his debut when India was being headed by the prince of Kolkata. After having few torrid games at the start of his career batting at no.7, Ganguly decided to promote Dhoni to number 3 position in the second ODI against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam which helped Dhoni in gaining confidence as the Indian wicket-keeper scored 148 helping India to win the match by 58 runs. Ganguly was happy to see his prospect perform well.

"I had over the years constantly looked out for players who remain steady under pressure and possess the capability to change the course of the match. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who came to my notice in 2004, was a natural progression of this thought. I was impressed with MS Dhoni from day one," wrote Ganguly in his biography.

"I wish I'd Dhoni in my 2003 World Cup team. I was told that when we were playing the 2003 World Cup final he was still a ticket collector with Indian Railways. Unbelievable!" added the former India skipper.