Happy Birthday Sourav Ganguly: Looking back at Dada’s legacy and what he left for Indian cricket

Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian Captain and BCCI President, also known as Dada or the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly turns 51 today. It really is a co-incidence that 2 of Indian Cricket’s revolutionary Captains have Birthdays on consecutive days. Yesterday MS Dhoni turned a year older (42) and today Ganguly celebrates his 51st Birthday.

His role in Indian cricket right from his early days have been one to remember. He is the one who started a renegading transition in Indian cricket and brought Dynamic young individuals who not only repaid his trust but also became legends of the game. Although Ganguly’s first few years of International cricket was not full of roses and dafodills.

Right after making his ODI debut in 1992, Sourav Ganguly was dropped for 4 years. On his debut against West Indies, he got out for 3 runs and was eventually passed on as there were negative questions around his Attitude, gameplay and arrogance as an individual.

It is also said that Sourav Ganguly never liked being the 12th man who can carry drinks for teammates and just sit in the dug out. During India’s tour of England in 1996, Ganguly made it to the Test team on the back of a splendid run during the 1993–94 and 1994–95 (First class season) Ranji Trophy.

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Sourav Ganguly: The Fearless Captain and Dazzling Batter Who Redefined Indian Cricket Turns 51

His Test debut came at the cost of Navjot Singh Sidhu leaving the Indian team because of cruel captaincy from then captain Mohammad Azharuddin. On his Test Debut, Ganguly slammed 131 runs at the home of cricket, Lord’s. On his 2nd Test appearance, he scored 136. 

4 years later after spot fixing scandal hit Indian cricket, Ganguly became the Captain and started his own method of constituting the team. He led India towards the very famous Natwest ODI series win against England in 2002 and his method of hand picking players ended up being very fruitful for Indian cricket.

What did Sourav Ganguly leave behind him?

His gifts? Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and most importantly MS Dhoni. 

Even though his captaincy tenure was somehow marred by disputes with management, his poor form and failure in ICC tournaments, Sourav Ganguly left an unique essence. He was always keen on giving youngsters a chance and even had the habit of sacrificing his own batting position for another player. 

To make way for an explosive Virender Sehwag or to give an inexperienced MS Dhoni a chance, Ganguly was open for it all. Sehwag during a recent interview claimed that Ganguly left the opening slot for him and the No.3 spot for Dhoni. Sehwag admitted that it worked well and also said that if it was not because of Dada, MS Dhoni would have just remained a name. 

MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly

It must be noted that 2 of Dhoni’s best ODI innings of 148 and 183 came as a Number 3 batter. Another curious case is after Sourav Ganguly was stripped off captaincy, India had soft captains like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar for instance. But the true captain material was MS Dhoni, the one who was heavily backed by Dada himself. 

“There are very few captains who would first give away his own batting spot for Virender Sehwag and then his set spot of No.3 for Dhoni. Had Dada not done that, Dhoni would not have become such a great player. Ganguly always believed in giving chances to new players.”