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Former India captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly turns 49 today. Ganguly is regarded as one of the finest leaders India has ever produced and was also a fantastic batsman, especially in the limited-overs version of the game.
Ganguly led the country in 49 Tests out of which India won 21 and lost 13. The former captain is credited with being the leader who made the team believe that they can win away from home. In one-dayers, Ganguly captained India in 146 matches out of which they collected 76 victories. Under Ganguly, India finished runners-up in the 2000 ICC Knockout tournament as well as the 2003 World Cup final.
As a batsman, Sourav Ganguly scored 7212 runs in 113 Tests and 11363 runs in 311 ODIs. He averaged over 40 in both formats of the game and scored a total of 38 international hundreds. With his medium pace, he also claimed 132 international wickets.
The cricket fraternity and fans wished Ganguly on his 49th birthday. Here is a compilation of some Twitter wishes:
Sourav Ganguly: The man credited with transforming Indian cricket
According to many cricket pundits, Ganguly’s biggest contribution to Indian cricket was pulling them out of turmoil in the wake of the 2000 match-fixing scandal. The former Bengal cricketer took over as Indian captain the same year and built a team of match-winners from scratch.
It was under Ganguly that youngsters like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and MS Dhoni flourished. All of the above-mentioned cricketers made key contributions when India lifted the World Cup in 2011, with Dhoni in charge of the team.
One of Sourav Ganguly’s finest moments as a leader came when he led India to a 2-1 Test series win over the mighty Australians at home. The victory ended the Steve Waugh-led side’s record run of 16 consecutive Test wins.
In 2002, he was again in charge when India lifted the Natwest Trophy at Lord’s, with Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif featuring in a match-winning partnership. Sourav Ganguly’s shirt-waving at the Lord’s balcony after India’s famous win remains one of the most iconic celebrations in international cricket.
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