An insipring story of a cricketing prince ...Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is the most successful captain of the Indian national cricket team. Born 8 July 1972, Ganguly lives at Barisha in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Ganguly has been nicknamed Bengal Tiger, Prince of Kolkata, Lord Snooty by his opponents, and affectionately Dada (which means elder brother in Bengali) by his team-mates. Rahul Dravid once commented, "On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly”.
Arrival ...Building an Empire
Ganguly made his One Day International debut for India against West Indies in 1992. Scoring just 3 he was dropped immediately. He returned to International cricket four years later for a Test series in England. He made his Test debut at Lord's, scoring a century. He became only the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's. In the next Test match at Trent Bridge, he scored another century, 136, sharing a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar.In 1997 Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century. Opening the innings, he scored 113, in his side's 238, against Sri Lanka. Later that year he won four consecutive Man of the match awards in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan. The second of these was won after he took 5/16 off 10 overs, his best bowling in a ODI. In 2000, after the match fixing scandal, Ganguly was named the captain of the India team.In 2003 under his captaincy India reached the World Cup Final, where they lost to the Australians. He led India in 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to their first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (12) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and 2000. He led India to victory over Steve Waugh's Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy which is considered one of the greatest wins in the Indian cricket history.
The kingdom falls ...
While he
has achieved significant success as captain, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy, especially after successes in the World Cup. His dispute with then coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team.
Ganguly made his One Day International debut for India against West Indies in 1992. Scoring just 3 he was dropped immediately. He returned to International cricket four years later for a Test series in England. He made his Test debut at Lord's, scoring a century. He became only the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's. In the next Test match at Trent Bridge, he scored another century, 136, sharing a 255 run stand with Sachin Tendulkar.In 1997 Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century. Opening the innings, he scored 113, in his side's 238, against Sri Lanka. Later that year he won four consecutive Man of the match awards in the Sahara Cup with Pakistan. The second of these was won after he took 5/16 off 10 overs, his best bowling in a ODI. In 2000, after the match fixing scandal, Ganguly was named the captain of the India team.In 2003 under his captaincy India reached the World Cup Final, where they lost to the Australians. He led India in 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to their first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (12) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and 2000. He led India to victory over Steve Waugh's Australia in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar trophy which is considered one of the greatest wins in the Indian cricket history.
The kingdom falls ...
While he
has achieved significant success as captain, his individual performance deteriorated during his captaincy, especially after successes in the World Cup. His dispute with then coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team.The Return of the King
In November 2006 , afte
r being dropped from the side for almost eight months, Ganguly was selected by the national board of selectors, chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar, in the team for the three-Test series against South Africa. The decision came after India could not reach even the Semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, held in India, as well as losing the opening three games of an ODI series with South Africa. The selectors decided to back experience in a total reversal of coach Greg Chappell's mission to inject fresh blood into the Indian cricket team .Ganguly emerged as the leading run getter for India in the Test series with South Africa.In the next series against Sri Lanka, his performance of 168 runs from 3 matches earned him the "Man of the Series Award". It was his first MoS Award in 6 years.On January 12, 2007 he was recalled for the ODI team, 15 months after he was dropped from the ODI side.He staged an excellent comeback by scoring a match-winning 98 run knock in Nagpur on his return in the first ODI. Ganguly is the highest Indian rungetter of 2007 in ODIs & Tests even though he has played less matches than others.On December 12, 2007, Ganguly scored his maiden double century of his incredible 11 year long career while playing against Pakistan in the first innings of the third and final test match of the series. This made the comeback into a true fairy tale . He was involved in a 300 run partnership for the 5th wicket along with Yuvraj Singh - a much needed partnership that saved India which was struggling at 61 for the fall of four wickets. He later went on to score 239 before being dismissed .
The Legend Continues ...
Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODIs & 15 in tests. Sourav, along with Sachi
n Tendulkar, formed by far the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, now with Sachin he is a world record holder for creating most no. of 50 run partnership in the first wicket(44 fifties) .In 2004, he was awarded the Padma Shri. Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. Ganguly also shares the Indian record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and never being on the losing side in every match in which they had scored a century. He is also one of the 3 players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history. He is playing his 100th test match in Australia in Dec 2007 , the inspirational legend continues ...
In November 2006 , afte
r being dropped from the side for almost eight months, Ganguly was selected by the national board of selectors, chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar, in the team for the three-Test series against South Africa. The decision came after India could not reach even the Semi-finals of the Champions Trophy, held in India, as well as losing the opening three games of an ODI series with South Africa. The selectors decided to back experience in a total reversal of coach Greg Chappell's mission to inject fresh blood into the Indian cricket team .Ganguly emerged as the leading run getter for India in the Test series with South Africa.In the next series against Sri Lanka, his performance of 168 runs from 3 matches earned him the "Man of the Series Award". It was his first MoS Award in 6 years.On January 12, 2007 he was recalled for the ODI team, 15 months after he was dropped from the ODI side.He staged an excellent comeback by scoring a match-winning 98 run knock in Nagpur on his return in the first ODI. Ganguly is the highest Indian rungetter of 2007 in ODIs & Tests even though he has played less matches than others.On December 12, 2007, Ganguly scored his maiden double century of his incredible 11 year long career while playing against Pakistan in the first innings of the third and final test match of the series. This made the comeback into a true fairy tale . He was involved in a 300 run partnership for the 5th wicket along with Yuvraj Singh - a much needed partnership that saved India which was struggling at 61 for the fall of four wickets. He later went on to score 239 before being dismissed .The Legend Continues ...
Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODIs & 15 in tests. Sourav, along with Sachi
n Tendulkar, formed by far the most successful opening pair in One Day Cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7000 runs at an average of 48.98, now with Sachin he is a world record holder for creating most no. of 50 run partnership in the first wicket(44 fifties) .In 2004, he was awarded the Padma Shri. Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. Ganguly also shares the Indian record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and never being on the losing side in every match in which they had scored a century. He is also one of the 3 players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history. He is playing his 100th test match in Australia in Dec 2007 , the inspirational legend continues ...
