English mode:on a bit long...but if you are true indian cricket fan this will make you smile!!! When the whole Indian team played a prankon Sourav Ganguly Sourav Ganguly ended up on the wrong sideof a prank by Yuvraj Singh and co. in 2005.The dressing room is often a place whichfans are completely alienated from for the most part. Rumours, personal history andwhat not goes on in fans’ discussions, neverbeing able to completely grasp the mood inthe dressing room. But when some anecdotes spill out from ex-team members,it more often than not reveals a group ofcricketers enjoying each other’s company inthe tense world of sports.Over the last decade, Yuvraj Singh has earned a reputation of being a fantastic match winner, as well as the biggest prankster in the dressing room. A few yearsago, in a chat show hosted by Bollywood actress and Kings XI Punjab owner PreityZinta, Yuvraj opened up about one suchprank in the Indian dressing room whichwas played on the skipper Sourav Ganguly. The history-The night before Yuvraj was set to make hisODI debut against Kenya in the ICC 2000knockout tournament, Sourav Ganguly cameup to him and asked. Open karega na? (Will you open?)Yuvraj replied he would, but that was moreout of bravado, so much so, that he had totake sleeping pills the night before thematch.The next morning, at breakfast, Sourav toldYuvraj it was just a joke.For Ganguly, the matter ended there, butYuvraj had other ideas. Years later, partnersin crime with Harbhajan Singh and the restof the team, he returned the favour to Indias most beloved captain.The revengeIt was business as usual in Kochi in 2005. With his routine swagger, Ganguly walkedinto the team meeting before the openeragainst traditional rivals Pakistan. Theplayers were already present when he gotthere. He failed to note the pre-planned buzzthat quickly turned into pin-drop silenceupon his entrance . Everything seemednormal, just like he thought the meetingwould be. Little did he know that he wouldget the shock of his life moments later.As was the norm, strategies and tactics werediscussed, but Dada was aghast when theplayers showed him a newspaper (fabricatedovernight) where he had made somecomments against his team’s players. Stillunable to fathom what on earth wascooking, he looked on as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag gave a sheet of paper to the team manager, WingCommander M Baladitya, and one to Souravhimself.“We arranged a printout of an imaginaryinterview of Sourav, where he’d been criticalof his players. When that was shown to him,he pleaded he had not given any suchinterview. recalls prank mastermind YuvrajSingh.Sourav went from player to player, claiminginnocence. To make matters worse, thesheet of paper given to the team managerwas read out.Dadas face lost colour when the team, asone, had spelled out their reservationsagainst him and his style of captaincy. Ialmost had tears in my eyes, recalled theformer skipper. These were the sameplayers I had always fought for. I didntknow why they were suddenly saying allthese things, he added. He lookedpleadingly for some support but it was justnot there. He was all alone in this battle.Sourav, in desperation, offered to resignfrom captaincy and promised he had nevermade such statements, after seeing theTurbanator Harbhajan Singh and AshishNehra storm out of the dressing room.On the verge of his breaking point, Souravjust could not take it anymore. Rahul Dravid(who else) could not bear to see his captainlike this and told him it was an April foolsprank.“Dada picked up a bat and chased all of usout of the dressing room” said Yuvraj,unable to control his laughter.I was more relieved than embarrassed,Ganguly said, years later. Incidentally, hewas given another sheet of paper signed byall. He could barely find the courage to read,but when he did, it warmed his heart. Itsimply read: Dada, we all love you. Thecaptain promptly hugged each one of hisboys, but gave them a stern warning, neverto do the same again.Such unity is the crux of any sporting teamin the world, and Dada, a captain lovedthoroughly by the players of his team, wouldremember this not as a day he was fooled,but as a day he came to know how much histeammates loved him.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 04:45:56 +0000
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