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No Fear No Favour

When Atal Bihari Vajpayee Told Ganguly To Win Pakistani Hearts Ahead Of 2004 Series

The former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, once greeted the Indian Team led by Sourav Gaungly with a special bat before their departure to Pakistan ahead of 2004 series.

Former prime minister of India and Bharat Ratna awardee Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died on Thursday at the age of 93, wanted to bridge the gap between India and Pakistan through sports. He had allowed the Indian team led by Sourav Ganguly to travel to Pakistan for a full-fledged tour after 19 years (five-ODI series, three-Test) in 2004.

The former PM got critical when his condition worsened over the last 24 hours and he was put on life support system. The people all around the nation were in shock after the news of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s demise surfaced on different social media platforms. Not only people from the politics background but also the Indian sports fraternity reacted after learning about Vajpayee’s demise and expressed their sorrow.

The beautiful present (The bat) by the former PM to the Indian team had a delightful quote on it, “Khel hi nahi, Dil bhi jeetiye – Shubhkamnaye” ( Win not only the contest, but the hearts too – best wishes).

The squad of Indian side comprised of the star players like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Anil Kumble, Zahir Khan. The visitors India went on to beat Pakistan 3-2 in the One-Day Internationals and 2-1 in the Test series.

Atal last breathed at 5.05 pm on Thursday. He was admitted in AIIMS on 11.06.2018 and was stable in the last 9 weeks under the care of a team of AIIMS doctors,” read the statement released by AIIMS.

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