Published: Jul 08, 2016, 11:35 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 08, 2016, 11:35 AM (IST)
England’s premier pace bowler Stuart Broad is a force to reckon with at the moment. Over the years, he has built a reputation of being a superb bower, especially at home. The ICC rankings also rate him in top 3 consistently, which is a reflection of his performances. However, Broad was not quite a threat when he started his career almost a decade back. ALSO SEE: Throwback: Watch MS Dhoni speak about Sourav Ganguly in a rare old video
The year 2007 in particular, was not that good for the lanky pacer. When India toured England for a full-fledged series involving Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs), an incident happened between him and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, which he perhaps may never forget. It happened during the sixth ODI of the seven-match series, which England eventually won 4-3.
England had batted first in the game and scored 316 runs. In reply, India’s favourite opening pair of Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar started well and put up a fifty-run stand. When Broad came in to bowl the ninth over of the innings, he said a few things to Ganguly, which the senior player did not appreciate. Commentators suggested that Ganguly perhaps told the young player not to sledge him as it will not work. Broad, however, did not back off. ALSO READ: Tennis, football and cricket — all under the same roof.
The incident fired-up Ganguly, who decided to teach the youngster a lesson. So when he returned to bowl the 11th over, Ganguly dispatched the very first ball for a six over long-on. Well, the six was a perfect answer from the legendary cricketer. Broad learnt his lesson of not messing with the senior players the hard way. Ganguly scored a fifty and India went on to win the match.
Interestingly, Yuvraj Singh was earlier hit for five consecutive sixes by Dimitri Mascarenhas in the same match, a favour which he returned back to Broad by hitting him for 6 sixes in an over a fortnight later at the inaugural World T20. There’s another legend of provocation involved here but let’s keep it for some other day. For now, enjoy this video and Ganguly’s ‘Dadagiri’.
