India's top five victories under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly – An inspirational leader

There were three distinct phases in the long and illustrious career that Sourav Ganguly had in international cricket. The first phase began in 1996 with the memorable hundred on debut at Lord’s.

The second phase began when Ganguly took up the captaincy of the Indian team in 2000 after the match-fixing scandal broke out and the third phase of his career began in 2005 after he was replaced as captain by Rahul Dravid.

The first phase was marked by Ganguly’s steep rise in international career as a batsman of great quality. His stroke-play on the offside during that period earned him heavy praise and remains perhaps the most successful period he enjoyed as a batsman. His innings of 183 in the 1999 World Cup at Taunton remains his highest achievement of that period.

The second phase of his career was the most extraordinary as he took reins of the team in a period of great turmoil. The match-fixing scandal had broken out and Sachin Tendulkar had requested to be excused from the responsibility. Ganguly brought a different brand of cricket with him marked by aggression, self-belief and excellent team spirit.

India went all the way to the finals of the 2003 World Cup on the back of an 8-match unbeaten run, but fell at the last hurdle. He led the team to some great achievements overseas as India won Test matches in England and Australia.

The third phase of his career was marked by struggle as he tried to keep his place in the side, often failing to deliver with the bat. There were a number of bitter controversies involving him and Greg Chappell. He made a few comebacks to international cricket, but he signed off, in a sense, on a good note with a hundred at Mohali in 2008 when Australia toured India.

That was his career in a nutshell, but the most memorable contribution that he made to Indian cricket was as a leader and hence the best way to look back at his contribution is to look back at some memorable wins that India achieved under his leadership.

2nd Test, Australia’s tour of India 2001, Eden Gardens, Calcutta

VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid scripted a historic win

India ended Australia’s glorious record of 16 consecutive Test match victories in their backyard with this astonishing performance. India had lost the first Test match and were on the back-foot after being given a follow on. Two players who would emerge as saviours in Ganguly’s reign a number of times got together to bat out the entire fourth day as India put up a challenging total of 384 runs for Australia.

The fifth day was played on a dusty and turning wicket, the kind that Ganguly liked to have at his home ground at Eden Gardens. He led his troops to a massive victory with Ganguly’s prodigy Harbhajan Singh ripping through the stellar Australian batting line-up with a six-wicket haul. India completed the Test series win with yet another victory at Chennai.

Natwest series Final at Lord’s, India’s tour of England 2002

Sourav Ganguly with Natwest Trophy, 2002

Few people have forgotten this match as India chased down a massive score of 325 runs in the final to defeat England as they lifted the trophy. More importantly, the win marked a change in the fortunes of Indian cricket.

The massive chase pumped a huge amount of self-belief in the Indian cricket team and even more so because it was accomplished largely by the contributions by the young stars of the team. Md. Kaif and Yuvraj Singh made the difference in the final and a huge part of the credit for their success goes to Ganguly’s faith in their abilities.

The visual of Sourav Ganguly brandishing his jersey in riposte to his former Lancaster teammate Andrew Flintoff as he stood bare chested at the balcony at Lord’s will never fade away from the minds of Indian fans.

3rd Test at Headingley, India’s tour of England 2002

India defeated England at Headingley

India tasted an important success at the same tour in the following Test match series as they put up a convincing display at Leeds to defeat England by an innings. The victory was set up by the three batting stalwarts of the Indian side, making that match all the more special.

Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly all scored centuries in the first innings to lead India to a massive total of 628 runs. The Indian quicks made short work of the first English innings as they were dismissed for 273 runs. India imposed the follow-on and Ganguly’s confidence on his bowlers paid off as the wrapped up the match on the last day, completing a massive win by an innings and 46 runs.

India vs Pakistan, World Cup 2003

Sachin Tendulkar’s whirlwind 98 knocked the air out of Pakistan’s bowling

India had a dream run in South Africa at the World Cup and even though they failed at the final hurdle, Ganguly’s leadership left an indelible mark on Indian cricket. The huddle that was first seen under his reign became a symbol of the Indian team spirit.

Ganguly had a successful tournament personally, scoring three centuries and finishing with an average of almost 60.00 in what was a rather long tournament. The most memorable match of that World Cup was when India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling encounter.

The memory that comes to mind almost instantly was the genius of Sachin and Sehwag at the top of the order as they thrashed the twin sixes on the off-side to Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar.

2nd Test at Adelaide, India’s tour of Australia 2003

Rahul Dravid exults after hitting the winning runs in Adelaide

India should have ideally won this series if not for the umpiring of Steve Bucknor in the last Test match at Sydney. India, however, were definitely the better team on this historic tour that saw India get a rare overseas win at Adelaide.

Australia put up a massive total of 556 runs with the help of a magnificent double-ton by Ricky Pontin, but India replied to that in an emphatic manner as the heroes of Eden Gardens returned to haunt Australia. Rahul Dravid scored an innings of 233, perhaps the best of his long and illustrious career, and VVS Laxman supported him with a knock of 148 as he continued to take some sort of demonish revenge on Australian bowlers.

Ajit Agrakar became the unlikely hero in the second innings as he dismantled the Australian batting line-up that had the likes of Waugh, Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist with a 6-wicket haul. India won the match by 4 wickets.