It’s not easy to comeback from the retirement and face 140 kph thunderbolts. Sourav Ganguly fumbled and was humbled during his 12-ball -1 run stay at the crease against Deccan Chargers at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday.

It was an opportunity for him to prove his critics wrong. But he failed.

Kolkata waited in bated breath to see his innings. The fans wanted him to succeed against huge odds.

He has done it before, several times.

The latest being at the same venue in a Test match against South Africa two years ago when he celebrated his return to the Indian team with a masterly 54 runs.

Today, however, he struggled against pace and perished while trying an ungainly swish against young Harmeet Singh.

Ganguly’s fans were hugely disappointed.

One of them, CAB joint-secretary Biswarup Dey, however, said: “It was his first match after a long layoff. The conditions favoured the bowlers. Even (Brendon) McCullum and (Chris) Gayle struggled. I am sure he will be in his elements soon.”

He, however, admitted that the Bengal southpaw has to get his act together very quickly, for he is “unlikely to get a long rope”.

Chief selector of the Bengal Ranji team Sambaran Banerjee too wanted to wait before jumping to a conclusion.

“I won’t say anything after just one innings. It’s not easy to bat fluently coming back from a long break,” Banerjee told The Indian Express.

“But Kumble and Shane Warne played excellent cricket yesterday. They have also retired and came back from a long layoff,”he added.

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