Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is famend for his management model and never letting the opposition breathe straightforward in a match. Termed because the “God of off-side” by former teammate Rahul Dravid, Ganguly has by no means been one to take a backseat. Reasonably, he has at all times believed in taking the mantle and controlling the uncontrollables. For over a decade, Sourav Ganguly’s swashbuckling but elegant batting enthralled the followers within the nation and worldwide and it additionally gave the opposition a headache.
Popularly generally known as “Dada”, he had made his Take a look at debut in opposition to England in the summertime of 1996. He instantly made headlines as he went on to attain a century in his maiden Take a look at at Lord’s.
The left-handed batsman additionally went on to attain a century in his second Take a look at. Thus, he turned solely the third batsman to attain a century in every of his first two innings.
The “Prince of Kolkata” then introduced himself within the ODI format as he gained 4 consecutive Man of the Match awards in 1997.
Within the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Ganguly performed a knock of 183 runs in opposition to Sri Lanka and was concerned in a 318-run partnership with Rahul Dravid.
In 2000, the match-fixing scandal engulfed the Indian camp and Ganguly was then made the captain of the facet. It was a herculean process to handle the workforce in turbulent instances.
As quickly as Dada turned the skipper, he began grooming new expertise.
It’s a testomony to his management that Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, MS Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan all got here into their very own with Ganguly underneath his management.
Ganguly first led India to the finals of the 2000 ICC Knockout Trophy. In 2001, one other watershed second got here for the Indian cricket because the Ganguly-led facet defeated Australia 2-1 within the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Throughout the collection, India recorded their most well-known Take a look at victory on the Eden Gardens. India had been requested to follow-on by the Steve Waugh-led Australian facet, however VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid scripted one of many best comebacks for the Indian workforce.
Many former captains like Nasser Hussain and Waugh recalled how Ganguly used to “get underneath their pores and skin” by exhibiting up late for the toss.
Now, who can overlook Ganguly taking off his jersey on the Lord’s balcony, when India famously beat England, from the jaws of defeat, within the finals of 2002 Natwest Trophy.
Two kids — Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif — scripted the victory for the Males in Blue and Ganguly then erupted with pleasure.
The 48-year-old Ganguly had additionally guided India to the finals of the 2003 World Cup and the facet simply fell brief within the summit conflict in opposition to Australia.
He had additionally led to an ODI and Take a look at collection in Pakistan in 2004. The Take a look at collection victory was a primary for India on Pakistani soil.
Ganguly additionally needed to defy all the percentages throughout the 2005-06 season as he was omitted from the squad after a fall-out with the then coach Greg Chappell. The previous Australian cricketer has been criticised for “ill-treating” Ganguly and making a hostile atmosphere within the workforce.
However being the fighter he’s, Dada returned to the facet and made a comeback by registering fifty-plus scores in Johannesburg.
The Prince of Kolkata known as time on his worldwide profession in 2008 after enjoying his final Take a look at in opposition to Australia in Nagpur. The left-handed batsman continued to play the Indian Premier League (IPL), however he retired from home cricket in 2012.
The previous skipper performed 113 Exams and 311 ODIs for India. The left-handed batsman scored 18,575 runs throughout all codecs in his worldwide profession.
Ganguly had led India in 195 matches throughout all codecs and managed to win 97 matches out of these.
Promoted
The Prince of Kolkata later went on to develop into the president of the Cricket Affiliation of Bengal (CAB) and was appointed because the president of BCCI in October final yr.
Ganguly performed a key function in pushing the thought of day-night Take a look at cricket in India. His efforts paid off as India performed its first-ever day-night Take a look at match in opposition to Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in 2019.
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