It is every young batsman's dream to score a century on debut but Bengal's Deep Dasgupta says he never realised it was such a big occasion when he accomplished the feat in the Ranji Trophy Super League in February 1999. In the presence of the veteran Saba Karim, who was also the skipper, Dasgupta's route into the Bengal team as wicket keeper was sealed for the moment. But his skill with the bat was good enough to merit inclusion solely in that capacity.

It was Bengal's first engagement in the Super League and they were up against Baroda at the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club ground. After the visitors had amassed 541 in their first innings, thanks in the main to a double hundred from Jacob Martin, it was Bengal's turn to take guard. Coming out to bat late on the second evening, Dasgupta and Nikhil Haldipur withstood the Baroda attack for the seven overs that were flung down. Next morning, the pair extended their first wicket association to 95 before Haldipur was trapped leg before by RA Swaroop.

But the debutant was not yet finished. The 21-year-old lad found another enduring companion in the form of Srikant Kalyani, with whom he notched up 122 for the second wicket. Seizing his first opportunity at the first class level to announce his mettle in unambiguous terms, Dasgupta marched to 120 off 254 balls, embellished with nineteen hits to the pickets. By the time Dasgupta was trapped in front, again by Swaroop, he had established a solid foundation for the Bengal middle order to build upon. Skipper Karim also weighed in with a ton of his own and Bengal closed out the match at 450/5, both teams collecting three points apiece since no result was obtained even on first innings. The import of the achievement would only sink in later on the callow youth but it would forever remain a moment to savour.