Sourav Ganguly, India's cricket hero and BCCI President, celebrates his 49th birthday today.

Wish you happy birthday dada, get full details..

Thursday, 8th July 2021

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain and current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), celebrated his 49th birthday on Thursday. Ganguly is credited with igniting the flames of Indian cricket.

Captain of the Revolution

Ganguly took over as India's captain after the match-fixing scandal in 2000, and during his tenure as captain, he has cultivated far too many young players. Under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra, and Mohammed Kaif made their respective debuts.

In Tests, Ganguly requested Virender Sehwag to begin the innings, which transformed the course of Delhi's batsman's career, as he went on to make two triple hundreds in the game's longest format.

During his time as captain, Ganguly made some bold decisions. When India needed a wicketkeeper-batsman, for example, he instructed his assistant Rahul Dravid to wear the gloves, which allowed him to play one extra batsman in the playing XI.

India went on to beat Australia in a Test series in 2001, win the 2002 Natwest Trophy by defeating England at Lord's, reach the 2003 World Cup final, draw with England in a Test series in 2004, and even defeat Pakistan in a Test series in 2005 under his leadership.

The king of moniker

'Dada,' 'Prince of Kolkata,' 'God of the off-side,' 'King of comebacks,' 'Maharaj,' Royal Bengal Tiger,' and other nicknames have been bestowed upon the former Indian captain by cricket fans, pundits, and colleagues throughout his cricketing career.

He was originally dubbed "The Prince of Calcutta" by Geoffrey Boycott. His parents gave him the moniker 'Maharaj.' For his temper, some dubbed him the "Royal Bengal tiger," while others felt he was the best Indian cricket team captain ever. He is affectionately referred to as 'Dada.'

Everything the Prince of Kolkata has done is iconic and cherished to this day, whether it was making Steve Waugh wait for the toss or the shirtless celebration in the Lord's balcony. The quarrel between Ganguly and former Indian coach Greg Chappell is well-known.

The Lords' King

In an ODI against the West Indies in 1992, Sourav Ganguly made his international debut. However, he was eventually booted from the Indian team due to an attitude issue.

He made a comeback in 1996, however, and lit up domestic cricket. Ganguly had a great debut at Lord's, scoring a century in his Test debut, and he never looked back after that.

With 11,163 runs, including 22 centuries and 72 half-centuries, Ganguly is India's second-highest run-scorer in ODIs.

Ganguly played 113 Tests and scored 7212 runs in 311 ODIs, including 16 centuries and 35 fifties. He has never participated in an international T20 match, although he is the captain of the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors.

The administrator, Ganguly

After retiring from cricket in 2008, Ganguly decided to give back to the game that helped him become a legend throughout the world.

Ganguly formally took over as the 39th BCCI President on October 23, 2019, after serving as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal. He did so without facing any objection to his candidacy. Ganguly has had an interesting stint as BCCI president, largely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. He has been hailed as a players' guy and the greatest possible person for the role all around the country.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source

India Today