Sourav Ganguly has left an indelible mark when it comes to the history of the Indian cricket team. When he made his Test debut in 1996 at Lord’s against England, Ganguly smashed a century on debut and his 131 signalled the arrival of an individual who was destined for great things. Ganguly took over the captaincy when Indian and world cricket was reeling from the match-fixing scandal and he turned the fortunes of the team brilliantly. He was at the helm when India ended Australia’s 16-match winning streak in Tests in 2001 during the Kolkata Test which was made memorable for VVS Laxman’s 281 and his 376-run stand with Rahul Dravid as India won after being asked to follow-on.
However, Ganguly’s memorable moment came in the final of the 2002 Natwest Trophy against England in Lord’s. Chasing 326, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif helped India achieve what was then a record run-chase. Following the victory, Ganguly took off his shirt and vigorously twirled it as India exacted sweet revenge for England, who had earlier won in Mumbai and it witnessed Andrew Flintoff taking his shirt off at the Wankhede and celebrating aggressively.
Under Ganguly, India managed to change their reputation of being ‘Tigers at Home, Lambs Abroad’ with winning abroad on a consistent basis. They won a Test in England after 16 years and in Australia after 22 years while Ganguly helped India win a Test series in Pakistan for the first-time-ever when India won the final Test in Rawalpindi due to Dravid’s brilliant 270.
During the fag end of his career, Ganguly had a turbulent time during the entire falling out episode with the-then coach Greg Chappell which fractured the Indian dressing room. India was eliminated in the first round of the 2007 World Cup but Ganguly’s own batting form, which had dipped slightly in 2005 and 2006, came back and he contributed in match-winning efforts in South Africa and in the home series against Pakistan and Australia.
On the occasion of Ganguly’s birthday, here are some of the memorable tweets from social media. Happy Birthday, Dada. Thank you for making India a cricketing superpower and laying the base for the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to take the game to the next level.
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HIGHLIGHTS
- India won in Australia, England and Pakistan under Sourav Ganguly.
- Ganguly scored 11363 ODI runs, 7212 Test runs in his career.
- Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008.
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