New Delhi: Fondly known as Dada, the former Indian captain, turns 44 today. He is the only cricketer who made a memorable Test debut with a century at Lord's in 1996, went on to claim 11 wins from 28 away Tests, a record by any Indian captain.
Ganguly made 7,213 runs in 113 Tests and 11,363 runs from 311 ODIs. He also led India to the finals of ICC Champions Trophy in 2001 (Sri Lanka), ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa, and won the NatWest series against England after which he celebrated by taking off his shirt at the Lord's balcony.
He retired from international cricket in 2008 during the home series against Australia and currently leads Eden Garden in an administrative role as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal.
Here are seven facts about former skipper Sourav Ganguly, one of the most successful Indian captains.
1. His nickname is ‘ Maharaj’ meaning ‘prince’. His parents gave him this nickname realizing that their son was a born leader. Later, Goeffrey Boycott fondly named him as the ‘The Prince of Calcutta’.
2. He is right-handed and does all his work with his right hand expect batting. The reason behind his being a left-handed batsman is his elder brother Snehashish, who was a left-handed. Gangulypicked up batting as a left-hander so he could then use his elder brother’s batting kit.
3. In 1992, he made his debut against West Indies at Brisbane, but was consequently dropped from the side because of his rumoured ‘attitude’ problems. As per reports, Sourav refused to carry drinks onto the field for a senior cricketer, which he has continuously denied till date.
4. He got an opportunity in the second test at Lords against England in 1996 after Navjot Singh Sidhu departed from the touring party, citing ill-treatment by the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
5. He loved David Gower's style and used to watch old videos of him playing. Other cricketers who influenced him are David Boon, Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev and Allan Border.
6. Being a very religious person, Dada observes a fast every Tuesday.
7. In the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, a 1.5 km road is named after him. He himself unveiled a memorial holding the new name of the road, Sourav Ganguly Avenue, at a function organized by the Rajarhat Gopalpur Municipality.
