'Dada ka kya kehna'- Fans react as India celebrates 21 years of Sourav Ganguly's iconic celebration at Lord's after winning NatWest trophy

It has been more than two decades since the cricket world witnessed one of the greatest clashes on a cricket field when India and England met in the NatWest Trophy final at Lord's on July 13, 2002. The Men in Blue sacrificed their sweat and blood till Sourav Ganguly celebrated the historic victory from Lord's balcony by waving his shirt.

India, led by Ganguly, performed admirably throughout the tri-series, winning four of their five league games. When they arrived in the final to face the hosts, there were some questions about their ability to repeat their previous performance. However, the exceptional team effort and Ganguly's aggressive approach led to the side winning the historic NatWest Trophy.

The victory won’t have been possible without the efforts of all teammates: Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh recalled the famous win and stated, "#Throwback to this memorable day when we ensured our tricolour flies high with pride This encounter should have been called NaTEST instead of Natwest coz it “tested” us at so many levels! The victory won’t have been possible without the efforts of all teammates, especially@MohammadKaif."

Batting first the English Lions set a massive target of 325 runs. Marcus Trescothick got to score a hundred. The southpaw registered a 100-ball 109 which included seven boundaries and two maximums. Then England's skipper Naseer Hussain also breached the 100-run mark scoring 115 runs off 128 balls.

In response, the Indian opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Ganguly got off to a good start in the chase. With India down by five wickets at 146, young guns Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif seized over and put on a 121-run stand. Both crossed 50 runs as Kaif stayed undefeated at 87 and Yuvraj Singh smashed a 65-ball 69. The pair almost finished the work and made it simple for the tailenders. India wrote history by capturing the title with Zaheer Khan taping the ball to the offside and completing a double. Kaif, who had the best innings of his life, was named Player of the Match. After India won the match Sourav Ganguly took off his jersey on the Lord's balcony, that latter become a historic moment in cricketing history.

Here's how fans reacted

2002 - icc ct winner(shared)
2003- wc final

— Satya P Singh(spbtctrade) (@spsinghweb) July 13, 2023

21 saal ho gaye pata he nahi chala. At that time my college exam was going on, watched whole match. 💯

— Satya P Singh(spbtctrade) (@spsinghweb) July 13, 2023

I couldn’t watch the match live becoz we didn’t had cable TV at that time. I was listening to the commentary on radio and these lines are still fresh in my mind even after 21 years:

“Agar Baharat ko ye Final Jeetna hai tu Yuva Balebazon Yuvraj Singh aur Mohammad Kaif ko Lambi…

— Waqar Afridi (@WakaAfridi) July 13, 2023

Tri series thi, koi bilateral nahi. Ussey phele 2001 mei filntoff ne India mei smae kiya tha uska revenge tha yeh

— Satya P Singh(spbtctrade) (@spsinghweb) July 13, 2023

2nd best moment in dada's career

— Next ICC Trophy When (@Next_ICC_Trophy) July 13, 2023

That celebration never gets old ❤️

— Full Stacked Starship 🇺🇦🇭🇰 (@full_starship) July 13, 2023

Ganguly is the best captain

— SRC (@isrchandran) July 13, 2023

Ganguly baap of chokli

— devendraq8 (@devendraq84238) July 13, 2023