Sourav Ganguly’s contributions to Indian cricket do not require a second mention. Arguably the best man to have led the Indian cricket team, in both Tests and One-Day Internationals, Ganguly has created a legacy that would be hard to replicate. Taking over the reigns of the team when the cricketing landscape of the country had taken a massive hit on the chin – read as the spot-fixing saga of 1999-2000 – Ganguly changed the face of Indian cricket within a span of a few years and took India from being an irrelevant Test playing nation away from home, to a side that would challenge even the best in the world be it at home or away.
However, before his captaincy tenure began, Ganguly had established himself as one of the most prolific batsmen that the country had ever seen, and through his consistent performances, had cemented his place in the Indian team in the latter part of the 1990s. Here, in this piece, we take a look at the legendary cricketer’s career and relive 10 of his best knocks international cricket on the occasion of his 44th birthday.
#1 131 vs England, Lord’s, June 20-24 1996
The left-handed batsman from Calcutta (now Kolkata) had made his impressions on the cricketing galleries of Lord’s, one of the world’s most iconic venues, on his Test debut itself, when he registered his maiden Test hundred batting at No. 3 in his first Test innings. The game, which is now famously remembered as the one that saw the inception of the careers of two of India’s best batsmen – Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, who made his Test debut in the same game – saw the elegance of the then 24-year-old, as he carved the English attack comprising of Chris Lewis, Dominic Cork, Allan Mullally, and Peter Martin to all corners of the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Studded with 20 fours, Ganguly’s knock helped India neutralise England’s score of 344 in the first innings, with a 429 of their own. The match ended up being a draw after England declared their 2nd innings at 278/9, but the first impression of an ambidextrous cricketer, who would later go on to do bigger and better things on the field, were laid. Dravid also had a memorable debut, as he scored 95 runs in his first innings in international cricket, but fell short of a maiden Test hundred on debut by just 5 runs.
#2 183 vs Sri Lanka, Taunton, ICC Cricket World Cup 1999, May 26, 1999
Three years on, Ganguly was one of the lynchpins of the Indian batting lineup that featured in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 held primarily in England. In a Group A league game against Sri Lanka, the two men who made their debuts together three years back in the same country were in for a special partnership. Ganguly and Dravid registered impeccable hundreds and shared a 318-run partnership for the second wicket, which was the then highest partnership for any wicket in the history of ODI cricket.
Ganguly was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the innings – having walked in alongside Sadagoppan Ramesh to open the innings – but not before he had plundered the Lankan bowlers for 183 runs, an innings that contained 17 fours and 7 sixes. India finished with a massive total of 373 runs, of which 146 runs were scored by Dravid, the other centurion of the match, and the score proved out to be too much for Sri Lanka as they capitulated inside their 50 overs and were bowled out for 216.
#3 141* vs South Africa, Nairobi, ICC KnockOut 2000, October 13, 2000
It was the second edition of the ICC Knock Out (to be later known as the ICC Champions Trophy) and India were already in the semi-final thanks to some brilliant all-round cricket displayed by the Indian cricketers, especially by Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag. The penultimate hurdle, however, was a tough one, as a South African side comprising the likes of Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Alan Donald waited to greet the Indians. It was then that Ganguly, now the captain of the side, decided to step up and take control into his own hands.
After winning the toss and batting first, the then Indian captain led from the front by scoring a magnificent century opening the innings and guided India to a challenging total of 295/6 from their 50 overs. His unbeaten knock of 141 was studded with 11 fours and 6 sixes and took to the cleaners an attack that had Pollock, Donald, Klusener and Nicky Boje in it. The captain was helped along by Rahul Dravid (who else?) yet again, who made 58 batting at No. 3, and by Yuvraj Singh, who had made his debut earlier in the tournament, and who finished with a 35-ball 41 towards the death. In reply, the Proteas were bowled out for 200, thus gifting India the victory and clearing their path to the final of the tournament.
#4 117 vs New Zealand, Nairobi, ICC KnockOut 2000 final, October 15, 2000
If the skipper led them to the final, the prerogative was on him to win India the tournament as well. It has to be said that Ganguly tried his best. It was just that one of the best all-rounders to have ever played limited-overs cricket, Chris Cairns, was just too good on that day. Opening the innings, like he did in the previous game, Ganguly scored his second century on the trot, making 117 runs from 130 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes, and with some help by his match made in heaven, Sachin Tendulkar, who contributed with 69 runs, helped India post a competitive total of 264/6 in their 50 overs.
What ensued thereafter was a match for the coming ages to remember. At one stage, New Zealand were in trouble at 132/5 in the 24th over, but a 122-run partnership for the 6th wicket between Chris Cairns and Chirs Harris steadied the Kiwi ship and brought them close to the target. When Harris departed, with the score being 254/6, NZ needed 11 runs from 9 balls. But Cairns, the cool and calm customer that he was during his playing days, destroyed Ganguly’s hopes of winning his maiden ICC tournament as captain, as he led his side to victory off the 4th ball of the final over.
#5 60 vs England, Lord’s, Natwest Series final, July 13, 2002
This game is remembered more for what Ganguly did standing on the players’ balcony than what he did on the field, despite the latter being as critical to one of the greatest Indian victories on foreign soil, as the former was to paying back Andrew Flintoff’s debts with a sweet tinge of interest. Chasing 326 runs to win, in the final of the Natwest Tri-Series, after Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain had registered magnificent hundreds to take England to 325/5 in 50 overs. That Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif pulled off an improbable-looking run-chase has been at the tip of every Indian cricket fan’s tongue, but what is most often forgotten his the start that the Indian captain gave to his team.
When Ganguly opened the Indian innings alongside Virender Sehwag, it was the right-handed basher from Delhi who was expected to give Indian the brisk start that was needed to have any chance of chasing the mammoth English total. However, what happened was quite the opposite, with Ganguly taking the charge from ball one and taking it upon himself the responsibility to dent the English bowling in the early stages of the innings. The skipper's 43-ball 60 contained 10 fours and 1 six and laid the perfect platform for the middle order to capitalise upon, after putting up 103 runs for the 1st wicket inside 15 overs.
#6 128 vs England, Headingley, August 22-26, 2002
From one memorable victory, we move on to another memorable victory, this one coming in the longest version of the game. In the 4-match Test series that followed the tri-series during India’s tour to England in 2002, the home side had won the first Test at Lord’s by 170 runs. It was in this context that the series-levelling third Test victory at Headingley, Leeds, is known as one of the most famous Indian victories on foreign soil. Batting first after winning the toss, India put on an absolute run-fest, plundering the English bowlers for two and a half days, and finishing their first innings at 628/8 declared.The architects of this magnanimous total were Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and the captain, Ganguly, who hit patient, yet aggressive Test centuries to break the spirits of the English cricketers.
When Dravid departed on the second day of the Test after making 148 and sharing a 150-run partnership with Tendulkar for the 3rd wicket, Ganguly walked in with the scorecard reading 335/3. That score, and the flaccid surface at Leeds were enough to encourage the left-hander to go all guns blazing and launch a fresh attack on the already tired English troops. A 249-run partnership ensued between Ganguly and Tendulkar, during which the Calcutta-born cricketer scored 128 runs to further demoralise the English bowling attack that contained the likes of Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles. Tendulkar fell just 7 runs short of a double hundred, as he was dismissed for 193 shortly after Ganguly’s dismissal. In reply, England could manage 273 and 309 from their two innings and lost the match by an innings and 46 runs.
#7 111 vs Kenya, Durban, ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 Semi-final, March 20, 2003
For all his accomplishments as a batsman and as a captain of the Indian side, something that Ganguly couldn’t do throughout his career was win India an ICC tournament. However, the ICC tournaments that he led India in are now remembered for the fighting brand of cricket that India played, something also inculcated by Ganguly into the team. In this regard, India’s run during the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003 becomes significant. The penultimate step towards the coveted crown was the semi-final against Kenya, held in Durban, and Ganguly, who’d had a mellowed tournament thus far, at least by his standards, decided to step up.
Coming in to bat at No. 3 after a solid start that was provided by Sehwag and Tendulkar, Ganguly took the Kenyan bowlers on and ensured that their luck finally ran out through his brilliant knock of 111 off 114 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes. Consequently, India posted a respectable total of 270/4 in their 50 overs, a score that proved out to be too much for the opposition in the end, as they were bundled out for 179, thereby gifting India their second World Cup final.
#8 51 vs South Africa, Johannesburg, December 15-18 2006
By the year 2006, Ganguly had seen all that an Indian cricketer could have seen in his career, and perhaps even more. He was sacked, both as the captain, as well as from the team, and was on a comeback trail. The fighting spirit that he had induced into Indian cricket throughout his days as captain was the source of inspiration that led the Bengal Tiger roar once again, and that too during a historic Test match. Before 2006, India had never won a Test on South African soil. That was about to change when India, with a reinstated Ganguly, took on the Proteas in the first Test at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
In swinging and seaming conditions, and against an attack comprising of Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel, Ganguly, who walked in to bat at No. 5 when India were 110/4, played one of the best knocks of his career, that too in a game he was making a comeback. His knock of 51 not out might appear to be an ordinary score, but given the fact that the Proteas were bowled out for 84 in their first innings – and they contained the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, and Graeme Smith amidst their ranks – this score by the Kolkata-born fighter was priceless. VVS Laxman’s 73 helped India post 236 in their 2nd innings in addition to their 249 in the 1st innings, and S Sreesanth’s 9-wicket haul in the match ensured that the home side fell short by 123 runs, thereby giving India their first Test win on South African soil.
#9 87 vs South Africa, Kanpur, April 11-13 2008
If it was swinging and seaming in 2006 when Ganguly made a comeback, two years later, during the return tour, a rank turner was put in place at Kanpur. Such was the influence of the surface on the match, and it took just 3 days for teams to get bowled out twice. Probably, testing times brought the best of Ganguly, as whenever the conditions were demanding and India needed someone to step up, the legendary cricketer was ready to take up the mantle.
In reply to South Africa’s 265 in the 1st innings, India registered 325 in their 1st innings, largely due to the 87-run knock by the former skipper who batted at No. 5, and Laxman’s 50, batting at No. 4. On a surface that was spinning right from Day 1, to bat for over three hours and make the best advantage of the opposition’s lack of quality spinners in their side, which they made up for by having one of the best fast-bowling attacks in the world – containing Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, and Morne Morkel – was no easy task. The Proteas were bundled out for 121 in their 2nd innings, and India chased the 62-run target with 9 wickets in hand. Ganguly was adjudged as the Man of the Match.
#10 102 vs Australia, Mohali, October 17-21 2008
Even in his last international series, Ganguly wasn’t ready to mellow down. Rather, he was recharged with a revitalised spirit and was ready to take on one of the toughest teams to play international cricket. In the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 held at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, India ran riot and defeated the Australians by a massive margin of 320 runs. In the 1st innings of the match, Ganguly scored what proved out to be his last century in international cricket, when he made 102 runs off 225 balls with 8 fours.
Riding on the veteran’s hundred, Tendulkar’s 88 and Gautam Gambhir’s 67, India posted 469 runs in their first innings, and a five-wicket-haul by Amit Mishra helped the team bundle out the opposition for 268. The home side then decided to add more insult to the Australia’s injury by not enforcing the follow-on and batting in their second innings, wherein Gambhir’s century lead them to 314/3 declared, as the Australian bowlers were made to toil hard. The visitors were bundled out for 195 in their 2nd innings thereby giving India the victory.
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