Watching Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly bat together was a pleasant sight for Indian fans in the 1990s and 2000s, but run outs were also a regular featyre when both were in the middle. This incident from India’s 2002 Test series in the Caribbean saw Dravid uncharacteristically storming off, muttering to himself, after the red signal flashed on the TV umpire’s board.

The two legends have a special place in Indian cricket history for their storied careers not just as players, but as administrator/coach. Having made their Test debuts together, they went on to become lynchpins in India’s batting line-up in the next decade, stitching together several memorable partnerships, including a mammoth 318-run stand against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup, the then highest partnership in ODI cricket.

However, Dravid and Ganguly shared 156 partnerships in international cricket of which 19 ended in run-outs, a whopping 12.17 per cent, the highest among those to have batted together at least 100 times in international cricket. While the camaraderie remained great, the two weren’t the best at judging when it came to running between the wickets.

This particular incident unfolded in the third Test of the 2002 Test series against the West Indies. India were 1-0 up in the series heading to Bridgetown, but after being put in to bat, saw the top order crumble to 27-3 with Mervyn Dillon and Pedro Collins doing the damage. Skipper Ganguly and Dravid joined hands, but the association did not last very long.

In the 17th over, with India’s score on 50, Ganguly pushed one onto the off side and called Dravid through for a quick single. Dravid responded immediately, but halfway through, as Shivnarine Chanderpaul picked up the ball, Ganguly changed his mind, forcing Dravid to rush back to the non-striker’s end where Cameron Cuffy took the bails down after receiving the throw from Chanderpaul.

Multiple replays came through with the umpire blocking the view in the most prominent angle. However, the red signal eventually flashed as Dravid was found just short of his crease. The batter walked off with a dejected look on his face, muttering to himself, clearly displeased with Ganguly’s change of mind.

“He [Dravid] responded, the captain called him, it wasn’t his fault. But then the captain had second thoughts,” Sunil Gavaskar went on air.

Dravid was involved in 101 dismissals in his international career, with him being run out (53) more than his partner (48). Of the 19 run outs involving Ganguly and Dravid, the latter ended up being dismissed on 12 occasions.

Watch the video of the mix up between Ganguly and Dravid

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