July 13, 2002, England vs India, NatWest series final, Lord's
India chasing a mammoth 326, No. 10 batsman Zaheer Khan was on the strike while the man in form Mohammed Kaif was at the non-striker end. Andrew Flintoff bowled the third ball of the final over with India requiring 2 runs to win.
Zak nudged the ball into the covers and the batsmen sprinted like hares to collect the winning runs, India won by 2 wickets with 3 balls remaining - what was the highest chase ever by any team at Lord's in ODIs.
Meanwhile, someone from the iconic Lord's balcony was waving his jersey. The glare in his eyes looked more like burning embers and this man was none other than the then India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Sourav Ganguly's reaction to that victory became a cult moment in the history of world cricket. An 'in-your-face captain' waving the shirt forced the world to reckon the arrival of a completely new Indian team who could challenge any opponent and defy the odds to create history. It was the Renaissance of Indian cricket from the dark days of Wealth, Wine, Women and Match fixing.
July 8, 1972, Behala, a suburb in Southern Kolkata
Nirupa Ganguly, wife of Chandidas Ganguly gave birth to their youngest son. They gave him the nickname 'Maharaj' meaning 'prince'. Perhaps they knew their son was born to lead.
Little Maharaj was a huge football fan from his childhood (he still is), and football was actually his first love! But he was introduced in the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish, who also played first-class cricket for Bengal. And thus one of India's greatest captains began his journey.
January 11, 1992, India vs West Indies, Brisbane
After making his mark on the domestic cricket, that youngest son of the Ganguly's of Behala, made his international debut, scoring only 3 runs against West Indies at Brisbane but was consequently dropped from the side because of his rumored 'attitude' problems. It is said that Sourav refused to carry drinks onto the field. He is the 'Maharaj', the 'Prince' why he would carry drinks like a twelfth man? That's Sourav Ganguly!
June 20, 1996, England vs India, Second Test, Lord's
Ganguly's 3 runs in his maiden ODI match against West Indies could not serve his cause and the left-hander had to wait for four long years to get another shot at the international level. But, the 'Prince of Kolkata' not only returned stronger but also a much more mature and confident player who would go on to rewrite history.
Ganguly made his Test debut against England at Lord's and scored his first international century (131) and another one in the next match (136). And never looked back since then.
They say, Ganguly was born with a golden spoon in the mouth but the journey which highlights Ganguly’s heydays does contain periods where the southpaw had to beat the odds to prove his mettle. From his omission from the Indian team just after his international debut to the controversy between him and Greg Chappell - the journey wasn't just a cakewalk!
The kid who had been flying kites when Kapil Dev hit the crucial match-saving 175 at Tunbridge Wells against Zimbabwe at 1983 World Cup was leading Team India and as pundits put it, one of the most successful captains ever.
In a country like India, where cricket is a religion and the fans argue among themselves on many issues after a game and one the most debatable topic among those is who is the best captain of India? Is it Virat Kohli or M.S Dhoni or Sourav Ganguly?
Some says that Dhoni is undoubtedly the best captain ever because of his statistics. Under his captaincy, India won three major ICC tournaments including the second World Cup and also helped India to reach number one in test ranking. But sometimes statistics don’t depict the real story. Statistically, Dhoni might be ahead of Saurav Ganguly but his contribution to Indian Cricket Team is beyond any statistics. As most of the cricket fan says Dhoni is the captain of best Indian team but Ganguly is the Best Captain of Indian Cricket Team.
Ganguly got captaincy in the most difficult time that Indian Cricket has ever faced. In 2000, due to match fixing scandals Indian cricket was going through a dark phase and Sachin Tendulkar resigned his position, during this turbulence Dada was made the captain of Indian Cricket team. It was the time when not only Indian cricket but also the entire nation was shaken up from match fixing fiasco. There was barely any hope left among Indian players. Then this man came up and introduced us to the art of aggression, self-belief and the custom of winning in abroad. He made the drowning ship into a winning chariot.
The Prince of Kolkata led the Indian team to many accolades on the global stage. He captained India in 49 Tests and 147 ODIs where India won 21 and 76 matches, respectively.
It was under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly that India reached the 2003 World Cup final, which they lost to Australia by 125 runs. Apart from this, Ganguly drew Test series in England (2002) and in Australia (2003-04) and beat Pakistan in their own backyard (2003-04).
It would not be an overstatement to say Ganguly inspired his colleagues to look the challenge in the eye and laid the foundation for a brand new Team India that feared none.
Ganguly made the team believe that they can win overseas; winning a test in countries like England and Australia is the most difficult thing for a captain and Ganguly did exactly that.
A great captain is one who fights for his players and Ganguly was a master of that. He always backed up his players. In fact, he was the one who choose Dhoni over Dinesh Karthik. Dhoni scored a duck on his debut but keeping faith on him Sourav Ganguly send him up the order at 3rd against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI and the significance was Dhoni scored 148.
The same thing happened with Harbhajan Singh also who got frustrated after being constantly ignored by the selectors just when Sourav Ganguly fought with them and brought him into the team. And who can forget his dramatic spell against Australians in Eden Garden in 2001?
All the great Indian players made their debut under Sourav Ganguly like Shewag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and many. Even players like Ajit Agarkar, Kaif won many matches single-handedly. He was the one who put faith in the youngsters and keeps them encouraging. He knew how to get the best from his players.
We can never forget the night of 2 April, 2011 when India won the World Cup for the second time under Dhoni's captaincy. But was it Dhoni's team or Ganguly's? Because all the heroes of that World Cup winning team like Virender Shewag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Asish Nehra got the perfect break for their careers under Dada.
Many players might come and go, but no one can ever replace the enigma of a man called Sourav Ganguly. Once, Sourav was asked by Ravi Shastri, the current Indian Coach, why was there no stand named after him in Eden Gardens. Sourav had quite candidly responded that the entire ground belongs to him. That's the 'Prince of Kolkata'.
From Bengal cricket to scoring a Test century on debut at Lord's...
From getting dropped from the Indian team just after international debut to waving shirt at historic Lord's balcony...
From CAB to BCCI president...
Sourav Ganguly made a statement that is, Bengalis are not only about just 'Rice' and 'Macher Jhol'!
Happy Birthday 'God of off side'!
'Maharaja' at a glance:
Tests - 113; ODIs - 311
Runs - 7,212; 11,363 (3rd highest run-scorer for India in ODIs)
Average - 42.17; 41.02
200s - 1
100s - 16; 22
50s - 35; 72
6s - 57; 190
4s - 900; 1,122
Highest - 239; 183
Wickets - 32; 100
Five-fors - 2 in ODIs
Best Bowling - 3/28 (BBI); 5/16
Catches - 71; 100
Captaincy Record:
Tests (2000-2005): M - 49; W - 21; L - 13; D - 15; W% - 42.85
ODIs (1999-2005): M - 146; W - 76; L - 65; NR - 5; W% - 53.90
First-class matches - 254; List A - 437; T20s - 77
Runs - 15,687; 15,662; 1,726
Average - 44.18; 41.32; 25.01
100s - 33; 31
50s - 89; 97; 8
Highest - 239; 183; 91
Wickets - 167; 171; 29
Five-fors - 4; 2
Best Bowling - 6/46; 5/16; 3/27
Catches - 168; 131; 28
IPL - 59
Runs - 1,349
50s - 7
6s - 42
4s - 137
Highest - 91
Wickets - 10
Best Bowling - 2/21
Catches - 22
✍️ Subham Dey
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