Hyderabad: Sourav Ganguly holds a special place in Indian cricketing circuit. He always had a topsy-turvy relation with the fans as he once was the most loved player in the team while also being hated by many.
His captaincy tenure definitely is one of the most chronicled ones in recent times. More than his proficiency on the offside, his prolific partnership with Sachin or the Chappel saga, it is his role as a captain in shaping up a young team from a tough time is what is remembered.
On his 48th birthday, Team ETV Bharat delves into Ganguly's journey from being an international cricketer to becoming a cricket administrator.
2002 NatWest trophy Final win Having taken over the captaincy at a tumultuous time in the wake of the match-fixing saga, he forged a team that was daunting at home and challenging overseas. This was also due to his partnership with John Wright, India's first foreign coach.
He urged his players to be fearless and himself led as an example. He used to get under the skins of the opposition for which often he ended up finding himself in the match referee's cabin.
Having debuted in 1992, he burst into collective memory in 1996 with back-to-back Test hundreds in England. In the process, he started to open the innings and the duo of Ganguly-Sachin formed arguably the most dangerous opening partnerships in ODI cricket history.
Sourav ganguly and Greg Chappell In the year 2005, Greg Chappell took over as India's coach and Chappell's relationship with Ganguly took a toll after the former's dismissive mail to the BCCI criticising the captain's ability to lead the side was leaked to the media.
A hurt Ganguly threatened to leave the tour midway and consequently was dropped from the national team after Rahul Dravid was named as his successor. He made a comeback in the tour to South Africa in 2006, and since being hungry and eager to prove himself ended up as the highest run-scorer in the series.
In 2007, Sourav also recorded his career-best of 239 against Pakistan in a Test in Bangalore. Soon in 2008, he declared his intention to retire from international cricket and thus the Australia series was his last. He was thus given an emotional farewell with the then captain MS Dhoni handing him over the reins for a while in the fag end of his last Test in Nagpur in 2008.
Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly After his retirement from the game as a cricketer, he undertook a new avatar as a TV analyst and commentator. In the year 2015 after the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya, he was elected as the president of CAB.
On October 13, he was elected as the president of BCCI unopposed and assumed office from October 23, thus starting a new innings. He thus became the second Indian skipper to lead Indian cricket as a BCCI President. Currently, Ganguly is in contention to be elected as the new ICC Chairman after Shashank Manohar stepped down from the Chairmanship.
