"He inspired a generation through his leadership" - Ravichandran Ashwin catches up with Sourav Ganguly in IPL 2024

Rajasthan Royals (RR) ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin met Delhi Capitals (DC) director of cricket Sourav Ganguly during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Thursday.

Ashwin was delighted to meet Ganguly in person and expressed his gratitude while lauding the former India captain for inspiring a generation of cricketers. The 37-year-old shared his picture sharing smiles with 'Dada' on Instagram and captioned it:

'Always a delight to meet the great man. He inspired a generation through his leadership."

For the unversed, Sourav Ganguly led India in 195 matches across formats and won 97 of them. He led India to the 2002 Champions Trophy. Only MS Dhoni (178), Virat Kohli (135), and Mohammad Azharuddin (104) have led India to more wins.

With the bat, Ganguly amassed 18,575 runs in 424 matches, including 38 centuries and 107 fifties. He has also served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2019 to 2022.

In IPL, Ganguly failed to replicate his international success. As a skipper, he won 17 out of 45 games. As a player, the left-hander scored 1349 runs in 59 matches with the help of seven half-centuries.

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"Do u realise how big is that" - Sourav Ganguly reacts to Ravichandran Ashwin's post amid IPL 2024

Sourav Ganguly hailed Ravichandran Ashwin while replying to his post on Instagram. The 51-year-old credited the off-spinner on becoming only second Indian player to pick up 500-plus wickets in Tests.

Ganguly replied:

"Such kind words .. thank you .. 500 test wickets and on ur way to 600 .. do u realise how big is that …."

Sourav Ganguly's reply to Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin recently emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the five-match home Test series against England. He scalped 26 wickets in five Tests as India handed England their first series defeat under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum in the Bazball era. During the series, Ashwin completed his 500 wickets in the red-ball format.

Ashwin was last seen in action for RR against DC. The right-handed batter slammed 29 runs off 19 balls, including three sixes as the Royals won the game by 12 runs. The 37-year-old, though, returned wicketless from his three overs.