Members of the Raj Thackeray-headed Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS), the Shiv Sena student front, were quick to conclude that Ganguly had advised stand-in captain Rahul Dravid to declare the Indian innings when Tendulkar was just a few runs away from his fourth double hundred in Tests. So, Ganguly was condemned by BVS activists in the western suburb of Borivili. A rasta roko was organised, followed by a mock funeral of Ganguly in which his effigy burnt. The injured Indian captain was the target of all ire that evening. There was also much talk about a Bengali conspiracy to deprive a Maharashtrian of well-deserved glory. "For the past so many years, Maharashtra’s darling Sachin Tendulkar has achieved one feat after another in world cricket. Ganguly deliberately kept him away from getting a double century," read a BVS statement issued later.
No one could convince the protesters that the decision to declare was a joint one made by the team management and verbalised by Dravid. Finally, the police had to come in and do their mandatory recording of statements. As for citizens caught in the rasta roko, they heaped the choicest abuses on the BVS protestors who went home duly content with their day’s work. Luckily, the BVS charge was so ridiculous that it failed to convince anyone, although many Tendulkar fans were unhappy that their hero had missed his double ton.
By Smruti Koppikar
