Sourav Ganguly, the ‘Dada’ of Indian cricket, turned 47 on July 8 — a day after Mahendra Singh Dhoni turned 38. Birthday wishes and greetings flew in, much as they had for Dhoni the day before.
Many of his former teammates wished him on Twitter. Virender Sehwag built on the same numbers-based template he wished Dhoni with and applied it to Ganguly.
Here are some of the former Indian skipper’s greatest moments.
The iconic moment of his shirtless celebration following the win against England in the NatWest series final in 2002
While this became Ganguly’s most iconic moment yet, it is something he admitted regretting. As he told Barkha Dutt, “I wouldn’t do it again. My daughter sees it now and said, ‘Why did you do that?’ I said, because I was happy that we won. But, I come from a very conservative shy Bengali family. And, it happened in the heat of the moment. Off the field I was a completely different person.”
Interestingly, Kohli had promised to ‘do a Ganguly’ if India wins the World Cup this year, which would make for a true spectacle today. However, given that Ganguly was penalized for his display, Kohli can expect the same treatment, which would likely result in a couple of match bans for him given his existing demerit points.
His former teammate, V.V.S. Laxman, who was present during the iconic celebration, also retweeted a photo of the moment.
The highest-ever century for a debut player at Lords
Ganguly was already an accomplished player in the Ranji trophy by the time he made it into the Indian cricket team. Despite this, his beginning in ODI cricket was marred by differences between his team and him. Ganguly was only called to play in a three-test series against England only because of the withdrawal of Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Dada made his debut with characteristic style, smashing a century to become only the third batsman to do so on their very first match at Lords. While three other players earned this honour in later years, none managed to reach Ganguly’s own score on debut — 131.
The Dada of comebacks
Ganguly has the distinction of being a player who entertained his fans as much off the pitch as on it. During his sting in the commentary box with Geoffrey Boycott, the latter made a jab at Ganguly’s infamous shirtless moment at Lords, “You must mention your experience about taking your jersey off and flying it in the air at the Mecca of Cricket: Lord's! Oh, you naughty boy!”
Ganguly was quick to reply, “One of your boys also took off his jersey here in Mumbai,” referring to the moment Andrew Flintoff had taken his shirt off during a game against India — months before Ganguly’s own display. Boycott replied, “Yeah, but Lord's is the Mecca of cricket,” to which Ganguly said, “Lord's is your Mecca, and Wankhede is ours.
Building India’s winning Josh
While Ganguly personally missed out on a World Cup trophy, the decisions he made while he was captain laid the foundation for India’s eventual win in 2011. Virendra Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, M.S. Dhoni or Yuvraj Singh — Ganguly was the captain who groomed them to become World Cup winning legends.
One of his best decisions was the choice of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, of whom Ganguly was impressed from the very beginning — according to Dada’s autobiography A century is not enough.
Ultimately, it was Ganguly’s confidence and ability to give India victories (in particular against Pakistan) that helped rebuild the confidence of the Indian team.