Sourav Ganguly finally spills beans on Lord’s shirt incident
Sourav Ganguly has finally opened up about the Lord’s shirt incident and revealed that VVS Laxman was trying to stop him from removing his shirt but he did it anyway. He further revealed that Andrew Flintoff's same act at Wankhede a year ago compelled him to carry that act in England.
July 13, 2002, was the date when the world witnessed one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of Indian cricket. Chasing a challenging target of 326, the visitors beat their much-fancied hosts by 2 wickets to clinch the title, sparking off a wild celebration from captain Sourav Ganguly at the famed Lord's balcony. While the incident took a special piece in the hearts of many Indian cricket fans, it was also widely criticised for the skipper's lack of responsibility.
After 16 years, Ganguly finally decided to speak on the incident with fond memories and revealed that VVS Laxman was trying to stop him from removing his T-shirt when the latter waved it in the Lord’s balcony. He also stated that the team back-then had a contradicting mix and it was fun to be a part of that team.
“He (Laxman) was trying to stop me. He was on my left and Bhajju (Harbhajan) was behind me. As I started to take off my shirt, Laxman held it and kept telling me not to do it. Bhajju, who was standing behind me, asked me what he should do. I just said, “You take it off as well.” There was a great mix of mad people like me in that team with the likes of Bhajju, Zaheer, Viru (Sehwag), Yuvraj. Then we also had the likes of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in the team,” Ganguly said in the popular chat show "Breakfast with Champions".
Andrew Flintoff removed his t-shirt in front of thousands of Indian fans at Wankhede Stadium back in 2002. His wild celebration came following England's emphatic win against India which ended the six-match ODI series in a draw. Ganguly revealed that it was Flintoff’s celebration that inspired him to take his shirt off in Lord’s. However, the former Indian captain stated that he was embarrassed looking back at the incident.
“The idea of doing it came to me right then. Flintoff had inspired me because (a year ago) we had been 3-2 up against England going into the Wankhede game. England won that game to level the series. After Srinath got out, Flintoff did his celebration (jersey waving) at the Wankhede. So I thought let’s do it at Lord’s as well. But I am embarrassed by that incident. My daughter saw it and asked me why I had done it. She asked me if this was something that had to be done in cricket,” he said.