This is the tale of Two cities and two men, who have made these two cities special…Two cities of joy, resembling the magic of life, sprinkled with sparkling cricket crazy people. Both cities are home to two of the greatest cricketing sons amongst the contemporaries.

 

Yes, no prizes for guessing: Kolkata and Matara, are the two cities; and Saurav Ganguly and Sanath Jayasuriya are the two men. And they have a tale to record in our memories – a tale of a reward, the result of extreme hard work.

 

 

The reason this is special – because both have crossed the five figure run mark in one day international cricket!

 

 A comparison of the Asian Giants paints quite a picture. There isn’t actually much to choose from between these two, really speaking. Both have opened, both have led their teams as captains, and both are destructive while in full flow.

 

Maybe the odd differences - early in his career, Sanath Jayasuriya played at the lower half of the order, while Ganguly was drafted in more as a regular opener, though initially his struggles donning the India cap are only too well known.

 

So naturally, the road to the five figure mark has been slower in the case of  the Sri Lankan opener, he has had to play 60 odd matches more than Ganguly to get to the mark, but then great is the achievement nevertheless.

 

Other than that, they are very similar in their statistical structure, each has almost the same number of runs, in terms of highest scores and scoring patterns, or the manner in which they have compiled up marathon innings.

 

The adjoining table depicts just that:

 

Player	M	Runs	HS	Avg	100s	50s
Sanath Jayasuriya	337	10057	189	32.13	18	58
Sourav Ganguly	274	10046	183	41.17	22	60

 

Perhaps in the fifties, hundreds and average column, Ganguly is superior to his Sri Lankan counterpart, but hey, you cannot take away the tremendous batting of the latter anytime. In fact, Jayasuriya can be credited with taking the first fifteen overs by the scuff of the neck. His slam-bang cricket in the 1996 Cricket World Cup is known to one and all.

 

His destructive style of batting tearing apart many a bowling attack – don’t go by the record books – just ask all those poor opposition bowlers, be it India, England, Pakistan, anybody for that matter! What matters much more is that he helped transform his team from the also-rans to the position of world champions!

 

 

Interestingly, the highest scores of both these individuals has been against each other – Ganguly’s magnificent 183 was against the hapless Sri Lankans in the 1999 world cup in England, and Jayasuriya wrecked havoc by showing his class at Sharjah. The Indians bore the brunt of carnage of the bowlers, his 189 is in the top draw of the highest scores of all time, sitting pretty alongside a great name, Sir Viv Richards!

 

However, when it comes to bowling, the marauder from Matara surely captures the top spot. He has to his name as many as 263 wickets making him easily the best all rounder for Sri Lanka for all time! Add to that 105 catches in the field, and it makes him the total package. A must have in every team!

 

In pale comparison, Ganguly has a pale record of 93 scalps with the ball, but one has to say that his services as a bowler haven’t been fully tapped. He has also 94 catches as a fielder. (Quite on par in this respect)

 

Jayasuriya is at the evening of his career, one may say that he is aging, but he seems to be mellowing like sweet wine. As for Ganguly, it is time for him to rethink his strategies and work upon kicking off the bad days behind him to begin life afresh and carry on from here. He has age on his side, something which the former Sri Lankan King Lion doesn’t.

 

All comparisons apart, these two contemporary superstars have thus reached a sterling landmark. Perhaps the boredom of milking the bowlers might stall them in their quest on their onward journey to the Hall of Fame. Then again, with their dazzling cricketing ways and their never ending thirst for conquering higher peaks, it is only imperative to say that they shall continue to enthrall audiences all around the world. And to say that they shall capture as many Everests as they may, and it shall only get higher with them setting higher standards for themselves and carry on with their quest for glory! And the tale of two cities shall continue its legacy for ages to come, and freeze in time...