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Sourav Ganguly's run as the captain of the Indian team had its moments. Ganguly played a pivotal role in Team India’s success and also gave the Indian fans memories that will last a lifetime.
The Bengal batsman stacked up 11363 ODI runs, with 22 hundreds and 7212 runs to his name in 113 Tests. We look at some of the milestones Ganguly as a captain.
#5 Sourav Ganguly is the only Indian skipper to win a Test series in Pakistan
Despite a having rivalry lasting over 50 years, India recorded their first and only series win in Pakistan under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy. They achieved it when they won the final Test of the series by an innings and 131 runs at Rawalpindi in the 2003/04 season.
This series victory was important in more than one way. This was India’s first overseas Test series win in over a decade and also made the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ the most successful Indian skipper with 15 Test wins. As a result, he surpassed the great Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of 14 wins.
#4 India registered their only Test win after being forced to follow-on
In the 144-year old Test cricket history, only three sides have won a game after being forced to follow-on. The most recent one, and the only time India has managed to do it was under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy in Kolkata against Australia.
Australia was a dominant force back then and were the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world. They were been winning run for 16 consecutive Tests until they were stopped by Sourav Ganguly's side.
#3 Sourav Ganguly oversaw India’s highest successful ODI run chase at that time
No Indian cricket fan will ever forget Sourav Ganguly's famous shirt-waving celebration from the Lord’s balcony in 2002. The former captain celebrated after India successfully chased England’s mammoth 325. It was India's highest successful run chase in an ODI at that time and the second-highest overall.
It took India almost 10 years and Virat Kohli’s knock of 183 runs to beat this record when India chased Pakistan’s total of 329 in the 2012 Asia Cup.
Ganguly starred with the bat in the game, scoring a sensational 43-ball knock of 60 runs while scoring 10 boundaries and a six while opening the batting. This gave India the confidence to push for the win. Until then India had lost nine finals in a row and six of them were under Ganguly’s captaincy, which made this win even sweeter.
#2 Ganguly is the only captain to score three centuries in a single edition of the World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 will be remembered for various good memories and a thumping defeat in the final for Indian fans. What most fans tend to forget is Sourav Ganguly’s contribution with the bat during the tournament.
He is the only Indian captain to score three centuries in a single edition of the World Cup. Ganguly registered scores of 112* against Namibia and 107* and 111* against Kenya.
#1 Ganguly is the only captain to score multiple centuries in the Champions Trophy
In the eight editions of the Champions Trophy tournament, no captain has scored more than one century other than former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly. The former Indian captain has scored three centuries in the Champions Trophy.
In the 2000 Champions Trophy, Sourav Ganguly scored a brilliant 141* against South Africa. A couple of days later he scored another century (117) against New Zealand in the final. However, he ended up on the losing side after the Kiwis successfully chased the total of 264 runs with two balls to spare.
In the 2002 edition, Sourav Ganguly scored an unbeaten 117* against England which helped India qualify for knockouts. India and Sri Lanka were declared joint winners of the tournament after rain washed out the final as well as the reserve day.
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