Sourav Ganguly has been credited with transforming the Indian cricket after the dark hour of the match-fixing arrests in 2000. He formed a formidable unit by backing some youngsters in the team, to go with the experience of himself, Tendulkar, Laxman, Kumble, and Dravid.

He led the team brilliantly in the 2003 World Cup, his second ICC event and after the initial shock of losing badly to Australia in their first match, the team regrouped and steamrolled the likes of Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan, and others.

The 2003 World Cup was a good one for Sourav Ganguly as a batsman as well as he scored three centuries in the tournament and on this day, March 20, he also created an Indian record. On March 20, 2003, Ganguly became the first Indian batsman to score a century in a knock-out match of the World Cup.

It was the semi-final of the tournament where India met Kenya at Kingsmead in Durban. After openers Sehwag and Tendulkar put on 74 runs, Ganguly joined Tendulkar after Sehwag fell for 33 and added 103 runs for the second wicket. Sachin was dismissed for 83 runs, but Ganguly made 111 with five fours and five sixes.

India made 270/4 in the allotted fifty overs and then bowled out Kenya for 179 to progress to the finals of the tournament, for the first time since 1983.

After Ganguly, Rohit Sharma became the second Indian to score a century in a World Cup knockout match, against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals of the 2015 tournament in Australia.

(ANI inputs)