Happy Birthday Sourav Ganguly: A look at former India skipper's best performances

Sourav Ganguly is perhaps the one who introduced aggression, intensity and passion to Indian cricket. With his stint as the India skipper, the Prince of Kolkata initiated a new era which taught the Men in Blue to dominate the cricket world not only on home soil, but also overseas.

Cricket enthusiasts will always remember his iconic shirt-waving celebration from the Lord’s balcony to mark the historic victory in the Natwest series in 2002.

During his more than a decade-long career, the southpaw featured in 311 One Day Internationals and 113 Tests scoring 11,363 and 7,212 runs respectively. The right-arm bowler also had the ability to take responsibility with the ball and scalped as many as 100 ODI wickets. From leading India to the 2003 World Cup Final to his controversial exit from International cricket, and an interesting comeback subsequently, Sourav Ganguly has become one of the talk-about sports personalities over the years and is now the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Today, on his 50th birthday, let’s look at some of the top performances of the former India skipper at the international stage:

183 runs vs Sri Lanka in 1999: The group match against Sri Lanka turned out to be a crucial one as India endured a terrible start in the 1999 World Cup campaign. After the wicket of opener  Sadagoppan Ramesh in the fist over, Ganguly paired with Rahul Dravid and stitched a 318-run stand. He individually scored 183 runs off 158 deliveries at a strike rate of 115. The historic partnership eventually helped India to win the game by 157 runs. The partnership, till date, continues to be the fourth highest partnership in ODI cricket for any wicket.

239 runs vs Pakistan in 2007: During the final fixture of the three-match series against Pakistan, Ganguly recorded his career-best Test performance scoring 239 runs in the first innings including 30 boundaries and 2 maximums. He also took an important wicket of Salman Butt as he chipped in a few overs with the ball. In the second innings, the southpaw continued his first innings form but fell 9 runs short of getting to the ton. India was just three wickets away from a victory but the match ended in a draw.

96 runs vs Pakistan in 1997: In a gripping encounter against arch-rival Pakistan, Ganguly stole the show with a blazing 96 runs in 136 balls in the fifth ODI in Toronto. He also bowled a 9-over spell and got two wickets to his name. Though India was eventually defeated by 5 wickets, the southpaw was named the player of the match for note-worthy performance in both departments. He also won the player of the series award for amassing 222 runs and bagging 15 wickets over five matches.

131 runs vs England in 1996: Sourav Ganguly marked his Test debut with an exceptional century against England at the Home of Cricket, the Lord’s. Ganguly came in at no. 3 as India lost the first wicket for just 25 runs on the scoreboard. The debutant, however, stabilized the innings as he faced 301 deliveries and went on to hit a century (131 runs) in his first match. This rigid knock helped India to conclude the match in a draw. Incidentally, this was also the debut match of Rahul Dravid.

141 runs vs South Africa in 2000: It was the second Semi-final of the ICC Knock-out Cup 2000 when Sourav Ganguly stunned the world with an unbeaten 141-run knock. During his 142-ball innings, the left-handed batter whacked 11 boundaries and 6 maximums helping India to post 295 runs on the board. He also bowled an over and brought a wicket to his name. India won the match by 95 runs and marched to the final. However, they lost to New Zealand in the final.