Life's best moment: Sourav Ganguly recalls his Test debut

Kolkata, June 20 (IANS) It was on June 20, 1996 that Sourav Ganguly, counted as one of India's most successful captains, made his Test debut against England at the Home of Cricket -- the Lord's Cricket Ground in London. It was an iconic moment in Ganguly's career and the left-handed batsman made the most of it by slamming a century in the very first inning he played.

On Saturday, the current BCCI chief remember his Test debut and said: "Made my debut today...life's best moment."

His wife Dona also took to Twitter and wrote: "24 years ago Sourav made his debut, so proud of you."

Ganguly played a superb knock of 131 for which he consumed 301 deliveries. The stylish knock was studded with 20 boundaries. With that inning, Ganguly announced his arrival at the international stage in an emphatic manner. He also became the 10th batsman to score a century on Test debut and the first Indian to achieve the feat at Lord's.

It should be remembered that the left-handed batsman had made his international debut in 1992 in an ODI against West Indies. However, he could manage just three runs and was not included in the Indian playing XI for the next four years.

In May 1996, he made a return to the Indian set up and was included in the team for the ODI played on May 26 against England in Manchester. He scored 46 runs in that match.

Recently, V.V.S. Laxman paid tribute to Ganguly, saying: "Unconventional and fiercely proud, Sourav Ganguly wore his heart on his sleeve. And, sometimes, bared it too. Empowering youngsters who went on to do wonders for the country was credit to his great leadership qualities."

The 47-year-old played a total of 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India in which he scored 7,212 and 11,363 runs respectively.