5 things that might not have happened in Indian cricket were it not for Sourav Ganguly

#4 Sourav Ganguly steered the Indian ship through the turbulent waters of the spot-fixing saga

Sourav Ganguly took over from Tendulkar

At the turn of the century, the Indian cricket team found itself caught in an ugly fixing scandal that threatened to shake the very foundations of the sport in the country. Mohammad Azharuddin was banned for life, Kapil Dev resigned from his post as the coach of the team. Sachin Tendulkar stepped down from captaincy, and the reins were handed over to Sourav Ganguly.

The onus fell on the southpaw to shepherd the side through the saga that had tarnished the names of some of the greatest cricketers India had ever produced, and he didn't disappoint. He soon led the team to victory in the 2002 NatWest Series, where the image of him waving his shirt about on the Lord's balcony after winning the final is etched in cricket history.

He then captained India to the final of the 2003 World Cup and although they suffered a resounding loss at the hands of the Kangaroos, Indian cricket had well and truly been revived by Sourav Ganguly.

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#3 Sourav Ganguly's bold captaincy led to the 2001 Eden Gardens miracle

Captain Sourav Ganguly broke Australia's streak of 16 consecutive Test wins

The 2001 Eden Gardens Test is remembered for VVS Laxman's 281 and his partnership with Rahul Dravid, as well as for Harbhajan Singh's Day 1 hat-trick. But it was Sourav Ganguly who commandeered the Indian team to break Australia's streak of 16 Test wins on the trot.

After the hosts were asked to follow-on, Sourav Ganguly sent in VVS Laxman at No. 3 and even stitched together a useful partnership with the stylish right-hander. India amassed a massive second-innings score of 657, with the tourists set a target of 387 with around two-and-a-half sessions left in the game.

Sourav Ganguly then threw the ball to part-timer Sachin Tendulkar, who dismissed Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, and Shane Warne, as Harbhajan Singh added the finishing touches to one of the greatest Test matches of all time.