Sourav Ganguly

Personal information

• Full name : Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
• Nickname : Dada, Prince of Kolkata, Bengal Tiger, Maharaja
• Born : 8^th July 1972 Calcutta, Bengal, India
• Height  : 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
• Batting style :  Left-handed batsman
• Bowling style :  Right arm medium
• Role : Batsman

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is an Indian cricketer, and former captain of the Indian national team. He is India's most successful Test captain till date, winning 21 tests out of 49 tests he Captained and leading India into the 2003 World Cup finals.

On October 7th 2008, Ganguly announced that the test series against Australia in October 2008 would be his last.

International information

Test debut 20^th June 1996 : Vs England (Cap 207)
Last Test 6^th November 2008 : Vs Australia
ODI debut 11^th January 1992 : Vs West Indies (Cap 84)
Last ODI  15^th November 2007 : Vs Pakistan

Retirement from International Cricket

On October 7th 2008, Ganguly announced that the Test series against Australia starting in October 2008 would be his last[51] and stated "To be honest, I didn't expect to be picked for this series."

Domestic team information

Years                        Team
1989/90–2006/07  Bengal
2000                         Lancashire
2005                         Glamorgan
2006                         Northamptonshire
2008–present         Kolkata Knight Riders

Early life

The youngest son of Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly, Ganguly was born on 8 July 1972 in Kolkata. His father ran a flourishing print business and was one of the richest men in Kolkata. He had a luxurious childhood and was nicknamed the Maharaja. Though he was asked to concentrate on his studies and not to play cricket, he was inspired to do so by his brother Snehasish Ganguly, an accomplished left-handed batsman for Bengal. Though he was acutally right-handed, he batted left-handed so that he could use his brother's equipment. After he showed some promise as a batsman, he was enrolled in a cricket academy. An indoor multi-gym and concrete wicket was built at home for him and his brother, and he would often watch cricket videos, especially those of David Gower, whom he admired. After he scored a century against the Orissa U-15 side, he was made captain of St Xavier's School's cricket team, where several of his teammates complained against his arrogance.

Records

Test:

• Scored a century on Test debut
• Scored a century in each of his first two Tests
• Captained India in a record 49 Test matches
• Led India to a record 21 Test wins
• India's most successful Test captain

ODIs:

• Second fastest player to reach 10,000 ODI runs
• Fastest to reach multiples of 7,000, 8,000, 9,000 ODI Runs
• Holds the record, shared with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the second highest score by an Indian cricketer in an ODI — 183, against Sri Lanka in 1999
• Held the record, shared with Sachin Tendulkar, for the highest first wicket partnership for India in a ODI match, 258, against Kenya in 2001. This record was bettered by Sri Lankan opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tharanga in 2006 at Headingly
• Was involved in the First 300 run ODI partnership with Rahul Dravid
• 6th on the all time list with 30 man of the match awards (Sachin Tendulkar leads with 52 awards in 369 matches)
• He is also the only player to win 4 consecutive man of the match awards in ODIs
• India's most successful ODI captain
• First Indian to Score a ODI Century Against Australia in Australia

Career Statistics

Tests:

• Cumulative Test batting average never fell below 40 runs per innings
• He joined another select brand of 3 batsman who made tons in their 1st two Test innings.
• Sourav was only the 3rd batsman in the world to score a century on debut at Lords.
• His 131 still remains the highest by any batsman on his debut at Lord’s.
• Has gotten out on 99 twice in tests only 8 batsman have fallen so. The others are MJK Smith, G Boycott, RB Richardson, JG Wright, MA Atherton, Saleem Malik, GS Blewett

ODI's:

• Second Fastest after Viv Richards to reach 6,000 ODI Runs in 147 Innings and Sachin Tendulkar to 10,000 in 263 Innings
• Cumulative ODI batting average never fell below 40 runs per innings after his 84th Innings
• Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is an Indian cricketer, and former captain of the Indian national team. He is India's most successful Test captain till date, winning 21 tests out of 49 tests he Captained and leading India into the 2003 World Cup finals.
• On October 7th 2008, Ganguly announced that the test series against Australia starting in October 2008 would be his last and stated "To be honest, I didn't expect to be picked for this series."

Controversies:

The Chappell - Ganguly controversy

His dispute with then-coach Greg Chappell resulted in many headlines during 2005 and early 2006. Greg Chappell emailed the BCCI stating that Ganguly was unfit to lead India and that his "divide and rule" behaviour was damaging the team. This email was leaked to the media and resulted in huge backlash from Ganguly's fans. Eventually due to his poor form and differences with the coach he was stripped of his captaincy and dropped from the team. However, 10 months later, during India's tour to South Africa, Ganguly was recalled after his middle order replacements Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif suffered poor form.

County Cricket

Ganguly's County cricket career in England was not a success. In "The Wisden Cricketer"  it was described as follows: "The imperious Indian - dubbed 'Lord Snooty' - deigned to represent Lancashire in 2000. At the crease it was sometimes uncertain whether his partner was a batsman or a batman being dispatched to take his discarded sweater to the pavilion or carry his kit bag. But mutiny was afoot among the lower orders. In one match Ganguly, after reaching his fifty, raised his bat to the home balcony, only to find it deserted. He did not inspire at Glamorgan or Northamptonshire either. At the latter in 2006 he averaged 4.80 from his four first-class appearances."

Shirt take-off at Lords

The shirt that Ganguly took off during the celebrative mood after his team's extraordinary win in the Natwest Series Final. During the final match of the 2002 Natwest Trophy held in Lords after a stunning performance by team mates Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, Sourav Ganguly took off his shirt in public and brandis.