5 times when Sourav Ganguly showed he is the real boss

The man might be called the God of the off-side, but his spectacular cover-drive was not the best thing about Sourav Ganguly. It was his undeniable spirit, his innate leadership qualities and his undying aggression.

Ganguly took over the reigns of India's cricket captaincy amidst the tatters of the fixing scandal, and led it to the ultimate glory. He not only built Indian cricket but also Indian cricketers. Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif were some of the youngsters that prospered under the former Indian captain's tutelage.

As the Dada of Indian cricket turns 45, let us take a look at 5 incidents which prove that he is the real boss.

Extra cover: Sourav Ganguly over the years: The journey full of Dadagiri from 1992-2008 in pictures

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Trolling his fellow commentators

Starting from Harsha Bhogle to former England skipper Naseer Hussain, everyone was at the receiving end of Sourav Ganguly’s words in the commentary box. Let us take a look at three of the many instances when the former Indian captain owned his fellow commentators.

Instance 1:

Hussain: When can I see India in the FIFA World Cup?

Ganguly: If India had played football for 50 years, then we would have qualified for the finals at least once.

Extra cover: 5 instances when Sourav Ganguly owned the commentary box

Instance 2:

Boycott: You must mention his experience about playing against England and also that Natwest Trophy Final taking his jersey off and flying it in the air at the Mecca of Cricket! Oh, you naughty boy!

Ganguly (Imitating Boycott’s style and pronunciation): One of your boys also took off his jersey here in Mumbai.

Boycott: Yeah, but Lord’s is the Mecca of Cricket.

Ganguly: Lord’s is your Mecca, and Wankhede is ours.

Instance 3:

Ravi Shastri: In Eden Gardens, Kolkata, is there a Ganguly pavilion or Ganguly stand?

Sourav Ganguly: “The ground belongs to Ganguly!

Don’t F**K around, Russell

In the final of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka, Ganguly got into an altercation with Russell Arnold who had run on the pitch in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage for his spinners later on.

In the 40^th over of the Sri Lankan innings, Arnold cut the last ball of Kumble’s over to the backward point fielder and took off for a single. But, the left-hander came back to the crease as he was trying to create some footmarks for the Lankan spinners, who were to come on to bowl later in the match.

Wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid noticed it and pointed it out to his skipper. Ganguly, fielding at cover, went towards Arnold and exchanged a few words with him which included, ”I am just saying keep away, don't f**k around”.

The umpire David Shepherd had to intervene and take Ganguly away but the Indian skipper still had something to say to both Arnold and Shepherd.

Owning Stuart Broad at The Oval

In the sixth ODI of the seven-match ODI series in 2007, India were asked to chase 317 runs in their 50 overs. Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly got the team off to a flying start as they put on 55 runs in the first nine overs.

Ganguly gave himself some room and tried to hit the last ball of the ninth over bowled by Stuart Broad through the off-side and ended up finding Owais Shah at short cover. After the ball, Broad and Ganguly exchanged a few words and umpire Aleem Dar had to intervene to bring things under control.

When Broad came on to bowl the next over, once again, Ganguly gave himself some room and sent the ball over Broad’s head for a massive six. The bowler got a fitting reply from the Prince of Kolkata and he silently walked back to his bowling mark.

Asking Pommie Mbangwa to go away

In 2002, in the first match of the ODI series against Zimbabwe in Faridabad, the hosts were cruising towards a win when Douglas Marillier showed his skills and threatened to take the game away from India.

Extra cover: Sourav Ganguly shows his aggressive side as he instructs waterboy Pommie Mbangwa to leave the field

With Zimbabwe needing just 5 runs to win from 4 balls with one wicket in hand, substitute Pommie Mbangwa came onto the field carrying drinks and some advice from the coaching staff back in the dressing room. Mbangwa was seen murmuring something to his teammates even before he handed them the water bottle and after seeing the former Zimbabwean player run to his batsmen, Ganguly, who was fielding at cover, became furious and ordered him to leave the field.

It was later revealed that the scorecard was displaying the wrong target and that was the reason why Mbangwa had come on to the field to convey the error to the batsmen.

The famous shirt celebration at Lord’s

In the sixth and final match of the ODI series between India and England in 2001, England set India a target of 256 to win the match and the series. Chasing the par total at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India were cruising to a massive win before the visitors pulled things back.

With India needing six runs off the last three balls of the match with just two wickets in hand, Freddie Flintoff ran out Anil Kumble off the fourth ball and castled Javagal Srinath off the penultimate ball of the match. After the win, Flintoff removed his shirt, waved it in the air as England notched up a win from the jaws of defeat.

15 months later, India needed to chase 326 to win the Natwest Series final against England at Lord’s. India were reduced 147/5 with all their main batsmen back in the hut. Youngsters Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh though took the game away from the hosts and eventually the Men in Blue sealed the match in the penultimate over.

Right after India’s win, Ganguly removed his shirt and waved it in the air to celebrate the victory and that moment will be fresh in the minds of all the Indian fans in the years to come.