Kolkata, July 8: He did not lift the ICC World Cup as an Indian captain. He was also not a part of either the 2007 T20 World Cup, or the 2011 ODI World Cup winning Indian teams .
But as an Indian captain in the post 'match-fixing era', he was instrumental in presenting the cricketing world a number of champion players from India including Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif and the double World Cup victorious Team India skipper MS Dhoni, to name a few.
Needless to elaborate that we are discussing about former Team India captain and ex BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. he was the real 'Dada' (big brother) of Indian team during his playing days. The 'Maharaj', as he was often referred to for his uncompromising and straightforward approach, Ganguly's contributions to Indian cricket as a player, as an administrator and as a mentor are immense.
During his captainship, a bunch of young Indian players dared the entire world including the mighty Aussies with courage, conviction and match-winning zeal not only once but on a number of occasions. Winning not only at home, but on foreign soil on a regular basis, was no surprise under Sourav Ganguly.
The famous NatWest Final victory in 2003 orchestrated by two young Indian batters Mohd Kaif and Yuvraj Singh depicts the intensity and never say no attitude of the Indian team under him.
After the seemingly impossible Indian victory in NatWest Final, skipper Ganguly took out his shirt at Lord's balcony to celebrate a famous Indian win. That reminds us about his intensity, character and commitment as a true leader. He was rated as a players' captain.
Ganguly made his Test debut against England in 1996, earning the nickname 'Dada'. He quickly made headlines after scoring a century in his first Test at Lord's. The 'Prince of Kolkata', then went on to smash a ton in the second Test, becoming the third batter in history to make a hundred in each of his first two innings.
Later he shared several memorable partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and his other teammates. Though he batted left-handed but his right arm medium pace also fetched him many wickets and he was a match winner for his team.
As Ganguly turned 52 on Monday, wishes and greetings continued to pour in for him both personally and on social media as well. Former cricketers Manoj Tiwary, Munaf Patel and many others wished him all the best.
