Cometh the hour, cometh the man, Sourav Ganguly! India were down 0-1 in the three Test-series going into the Kandy Test. Nothing but a win would have kept them alive in the series. Skipper Ganguly knew the fact that his side was a weak one, injury to his star performers meant that he had to fight it out with a depleted side.

Ganguly showed a lot of commitment all through the Test and even took the task of bowling quite seriously. He was always there leading from the front. What has been a huge let down so far has been his batting. And, if there was a time to prove his detractors wrong and prove himself right, it was today, the fourth day of the second Test in Kandy.

India had to score 209 more runs to get to a win against the likes of Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan. India were 103/2 in the 36th over when Sadogoppan Ramesh played an outrageous shot to be caught by Sanath Jayasuriya at first slip. Ganguly joined Dravid who was playing quite positively in the middle. The victory was still 161 runs away.

The Indian skipper took his time to settle down and along with his deputy kept the scoreboard moving. Ganguly had an early escape, Muralitharan failing to latch on to a diving catch. Though he didn't get his feet moving initially, Ganguly grew in confidence as Dravid stepped on the gas. Runs started to flow in a hurry and the Sri Lankans were looking dejected.

Dravid (75) was foxed out by Muralitharan with the score on 194. The third wicket partnership was worth 91 runs, Ganguly was unbeaten on 48 with eight boundaries at that stage. The partnership effectively took the match away from the Sri Lankans. Ganguly was to get another reprieve in the meanwhile; a straightforward chance offered to Russel Arnold was put down.

Muralitharan was looking dangerous and with the new batsman Mohd Kaif in the middle, Sri Lankans saw an opportunity for striking again. Ganguly duly got to his first Test half century of the year 2001 and then launched a systematic attack on the bowling. He charged down the track to smash Muralitharan for boundaries. Dilhara Fernando too was singled out for punishment, the ball disappearing to the cover fence in a hurry. The vintage Ganguly was back.

Ganguly steered India to victory with a good partnership with Kaif. The two batsmen added an unbeaten 70 runs for the fourth wicket to take India to 264/3 in 78.4 overs. Kaif's contribution was just 19 runs as Ganguly went on to remain unbeaten on 98 (15 Fours). Ganguly lost out on the opportunity to get to his hundred when Kaif struck the winning boundary to the fine leg fence.

After the emphatic Test win Ganguly said,"I think it was one of my best Test knocks because it helped us win the game, I was disappointed to miss out on a century, but that is just a landmark." This says a lot about the man who has led India to his third Test match win abroad, not a mean achievement by any means. India has squared the series and Ganguly is back in form going into the third Test starting at the SSC Grounds in Colombo on Wednesday.