Legendary batter and even more legendary captain, India’s Sourav Ganguly is celebrating his milestone 50th birthday today, July 8, 2022. Considered to be one of the finest left-handed batters of all time, Ganguly played for India from 1992-2008.
Making his ODI debut in 1992, Ganguly had a false start to his India career going into hibernation for four years. He made his Test debut in 1996, scoring two centuries in his first two Tests, and became a permanent member of the Indian side in both Tests and ODIs from then on.
He formed an amazing partnership at the top with Sachin Tendulkar at the top and took over the no.6 batting position in Test matches.
He took over as India's captain in 2000 after the match-fixing scandal and led India to the finals of the 2000 Knockout Trophy in Kenya, made India joint winners in the 2002 edition of the same tournament, and took them to the finals of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
India won a historic Test and ODI series in Pakistan in 2004. After a brief hiatus from international cricket following a tiff with India coach Greg Chappell, Ganguly made a triumphant return to the Indian side, before calling time on his career at home after the 2008 Test series against Australia.
Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India, making 7212 and 11363 runs with a total of 38 centuries to his name. His highest ODI score was 183, which remains the highest by an Indian in a World Cup match, while his best Test score was 239 against Pakistan.
He was no mug with the ball as well, taking 32 Test and 100 ODI wickets with an ODI best of 5/16. As a captain, Ganguly is credited with turning the Indian team into a competitive unit outside India, with credible performances in Australia, England, and even South Africa.
Tendulkar gets nostalgic ahead of Ganguly’s 50th birthday, narrates fascinating stories
He also led Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors India in IPL, playing 56 matches, scoring 1349 runs with a best of 91.
Many cricketers have admitted that they owe their careers to Sourav Ganguly who backed them during his captaincy tenure when they first came into Indian cricket.
After retirement, Ganguly got into administration by first becoming the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and then becoming the president of the BCCI and remains in power today.
Today, as he celebrates a milestone 50th birthday, Ganguly received wishes from the Indian cricketing fraternity.
Here are some tweets:
