Cricket experts had been baying for Ganguly's blood after India lost the first Test in Mumbai by 10 wickets. Off the field, his relationship with actress Nagma only fed the Australian propensity to sledging.
Ganguly, leading India for the first time before his home crowd, knew his best bet to snub critics would be to score runs. Aussie skipper Steve Waugh admitted Ganguly was their main target. "Disintegrate him mentally," was their strategy. So it wasn't surprising when Glenn McGrath inquired about "Ganguly's friend" during a brief verbal joust in the Indian second innings.
Former Aussie captain Ian Chappell had also been unforgiving in his comments against Ganguly in his column in a Calcutta morninger. When the Indians ran back to the pavilion after they won, the Indian skipper brusquely pointed a stump towards the TV commentary box as if to deliver a message to Chappell.
The Australians were upset that Ganguly didn't field after lunch on two days during the tour game against the Board President's XI in New Delhi last week. He was apparently busy sorting out his domestic problems; grapevine has it that he'd sought legal advice on a matrimonial suit against his wife. "There was a big showdown between husband and wife in Delhi during the match," says a source; the Indian captain reportedly filed a divorce suit just before Holi in the Alipore courts.
However, Dona's presence at Eden Gardens probably indicates the couple's reconciled. She even ran down from the vip box in the cab Club House to congratulate Ganguly. Family friends say she's willing to forget the Nagma "blemish". Last week, she told a close friend: "He deserves another chance."
