Full Name

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

Born

July 08, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal

Age

51y 255d

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium

Playing Role

Batter

Height

5ft 11in

Education

St Xavier's College

RELATIONS

Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, others swore that he was God on the off-side; some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain - forging a winning unit from a bunch of talented, but directionless, individuals - and nobody can argue about him being one of the greatest one-day batsmen of all time. Despite being a batsman who combined grace with surgical precision in his strokeplay, his career had spluttered to a standstill before being resurrected by a scintillating hundred on debut at Lord's in 1996. Later that year, he was promoted to the top of the order in ODIs and, along with Sachin Tendulkar, formed one of the most destructive opening pairs in history.

When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be a tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader. Under his stewardship India started winning Test matches away, and put together a splendid streak that took them all the way to the World Cup final in 2003. Later that year, in Australia, an unexpected and incandescent hundred at Brisbane set the tone for the series where India fought the world's best team to a standstill. Victory in Pakistan turned him into a cult figure but instead of being a springboard for greater things, it was the peak of a slippery slope.

The beginning of the end came in 2004 at Nagpur - when his last-minute withdrawal played a part in Australia clinching the series - and things went pear shaped when his loss of personal form coincided with India's insipid ODI performances. Breaking point was reached when his differences with Greg Chappell leaked into public domain and his career was in jeopardy when India began their remarkable revival under Rahul Dravid.

His gritty 30s at Karachi, when India succumbed to a humiliating defeat in early 2006, weren't enough for him to retain his spot and some felt he would never get another chance. Others, as always, thought otherwise and they were proved right when he was included in the Test squad for the away series in South Africa in 2006-2007. He ended as the highest Indian run-scorer in that series and capped his fairytale comeback with four half-centuries on his return to ODIs. He continued his fine run in England, where he finished as the second highest scorer in Tests, and went on to slam back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan at home, the second of which was a glorious 239 in Bangalore. Ganguly was surprisingly omitted from India's ODI squad for the CB Series in Australia and has been out of contention in the one-day squad since. After a poor Test series in Sri Lanka, there were reports of him considering retirement but he was given a lifeline in the Tests against Australia at home. Two days before the first Test, he said the series would be his last.

Sourav Ganguly Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests11318817721223942.171407051.25163590057710
ODIs311300231136318341.021541673.70227211221901000
FC254399441568723944.18--3389--1680
List A437421431562218341.32--3197--1310
T20s7773417269125.011613107.000818451280

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests1139931171681323/283/3752.533.2397.4000
ODIs311171456138491005/165/1638.495.0645.6120
FC254-1110860991676/46-36.523.2966.5-40
List A437-819966461715/165/1638.864.8647.9420
T20s7737573756293/273/2726.067.9119.7000
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly

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Sourav Ganguly speaks at an event
Sourav Ganguly poses with Manoj Tiwary
Rishabh Pant was present at Delhi Capitals' auction table
[L to R] Sourav Ganguly, Jay Shah and Arun Dhumal on the sidelines of the WPL auction
Sourav Ganguly at a promotional event in Kolkata
David Warner, Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly walk back after a strategic time out