Legends of Sports

Sourav Ganguly took a few moments to recall that historic day when he went out to toss with Naimur Rahman 10 years ago at the Bangabandhu National Stadium. It was November 10, 2000; a memorable day for the country's cricket as Bangladesh began life as a Test-playing nation on that particular day."I must confess I can't remember why this day is significant," responded Ganguly when asked whether he could remember the day's importance.The former India captain, who arrived yesterday to grace the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 countdown function in Dhaka, dealt with the googly while speaking with the reporters at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Once given a hint, he quickly recalled: "Yes, I can remember everything now. It was Bangladesh's inaugural Test match and they scored 400-plus runs in the first innings," replied Ganguly.It was also a small piece of history as it was not just Ganguly's first Test as India's captain, but the first time in cricket history when two Bengali-speaking skippers led their sides.India's most successful Test captain believed Bangladesh have improved a lot in the last 10 years since they have been elevated into the elite club."There were some good players in the squad when we played the first Test against them but there are a number of quality players in the team now. The recent performance against New Zealand showed the real sign of improvement," said Ganguly.

"I keenly follow Bangladesh cricket and watched all the matches against New Zealand. The 4-0 scoreline was amazing. I think their performance has significantly improved in the last one year. There are young players like Shakib [Al Hasan] and Tamim [Iqbal] who are showing their characters," he added."The good sign is that the players are performing but there are still a lot of areas they must improve on."I believe they will become a much better side soon if they continue their improvement. The improvement in the longer-version might not be satisfactory but you can't expect everything overnight," he said.Ganguly was confident about Bangladesh's success in the upcoming World Cup as he thinks that the slow bowlers have an advantage in home conditions.