Sourav Ganguly, the current president of the BCCI and, also referred to as "DADA" & "Lord of Off Side," used to have a past like that of a Bollywood actor, where he faced various challenges in both his life and professionally as a cricket player.

The former captain of India is credited with bringing out the best in Indian cricket, a task that MS Dhoni later carried out to a more significant extent by winning numerous awards, including World Cups.

Ganguly was well-known worldwide as he waved the Indian jersey after India had won an ODI against England at Lord's, England. Let's discover more about him in this article.

Family

On July 8, 1972, Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly introduced Sourav Ganguly into the world in Calcutta (current-day Kolkata), India. One of the wealthiest men in the city, his father ran a prosperous print business. Sourav's mother, Nirupa Ganguly, always preferred that he prioritize academics above sports as a primary interest. His batting prowess was recognized when he attended a cricket academy. Sourav Ganguly & Dona Ganguly, a formally trained dancer & the joy of Ganguly's life, have a beautiful daughter named 'Sana Ganguly'.

Career

1. Residential Career

Sourav Ganguly first preferred football because it was the preferred sport in Kolkata, but he finally developed a passion for cricket.
Sourav Ganguly was selected to play for the 'Bengal-led' team in 1989.
He led the cricket team at 'St. Xavier's School' after scoring a hundred against Orissa Under-15. That year, his brother abruptly quit the team.
At 18, he made his "Ranji Trophy" debut at the Eden Gardens championship game against Bengal and Delhi.
Bengal has crowned the victors even though the game ended in a tie.

2. Worldwide Career

ODI

He played West Indies in his first ODI match in January 1992.
He struggled to get off to a good start, scoring just three runs while batting at 'No. 6' in an ODI at Brisbane's Gabba.
In addition to failing in his initial attempt, he gained notoriety for his arrogant demeanour.
He was dismissed from the national squad, forcing him to resume playing in local leagues.
He was invited back to the Indian team following his 171 performance in the '1995–1996' Duleep Trophy.

Test

After the Duleep Trophy, he was re-added to the Indian team for a 1996 tour of England, despite harsh public criticism.
He played in one ODI but wasn't included in the team for the first Test.
Nonetheless, Ganguly earned his Test debut against England in the second of three tests at 'Lord's Cricket Ground' alongside Rahul Dravid after teammate Navjot Singh Sidhu left the touring party citing maltreatment by then captain "Mohammed Azharuddin".
His 255-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar was, at the time, the most partnership for India with any other country for any wicket from outside India.

The Ganguly Captaincy Era

After a match-fixing scandal involving a few team members in 2000, Sourav Ganguly was picked as the Indian cricket team's captain.
Tendulkar's resignation from the position due to his health and Sourav Ganguly's vice-captaincy at the moment led to the decision being reached.
He led India to a five-match one-day series victory over South Africa on his debut as captain. Additionally, he led his group to the 'ICC Knockout Trophy playoffs in 2000, where New Zealand defeated them.
After that, a series began that turned out to be a turning point for both Sourav Ganguly and Indian cricket.

Ganguly Return

Ten months after his outstanding performance in domestic cricket, Ganguly was called up for India's tour to South Africa.
After Suresh Raina & Mohammad Kaif, his middle-order replacements had dismal performances, Sourav Ganguly was added to the team.
In the opening Test against South Africa, he scored 51 runs. India triumphed in Johannesburg, and Ganguly played admirably.

IPL Career

In terms of Indian cricket's popularity, 2008 was a landmark year.
At the 'Indian Premier League opening, Shah Rukh Khan's franchise team, the 'Kolkata Knight Riders', named the "Prince of Calcutta" as their captain.
In May, Ganguly was removed from his leadership responsibilities as 'KKR's captain' for the 2009 IPL season, and McCullum took over.
Ganguly was given the team captaincy in the third IPL season after KKR came last during the second. After failing to sell in the first round of bidding, he was hired by the "Pune Warriors India" in the fourth IPL season. He amassed 50 runs throughout four games & three innings.

The start of a career

Zee Bangla, a Bengali television network, initially hired him to host the reality game show Dadagiri Unlimited.
It featured candidates from the 19 districts of West Bengal who had to react to Ganguly's questions.
In March 2019, Ganguly was selected to serve as the IPL team's advisor for the "Delhi Capitals."

Ganguly Controversies

1. He opted not to bring alcohol to his debut match

Ganguly played his first ODI against the 'West Indies while travelling to Australia with the Indian squad in 1991–1992. He claimed he acted haughtily due to refusing to carry drinks for his teammates.

Because of this rumour, he was fired from the team. He was called up by the Indian Cricket Team four years later, in 1996, for an ODI tour of England. Years later, Ganguly addressed the rumour in an interview and categorically rejected everything, referring to it as a rumour.

2. Ran off with the lover

He fled in 1997 with Dona Roy, a boyhood sweetheart. The pair eloped since their families didn't get along. The incident affected both families, who later found common ground.

The union took place in February 1997. The marriage was yet another impetus for him as he developed into a fantastic ODI cricketer.

3. Andrew Flintoff set up Ganguly to act in a princely manner

Ganguly played county cricket for Lancashire in 2000. He didn't fit in with the system. So, neither he nor his team had a particularly memorable experience. One rumour claims that he asked a teammate named "Michael Atherton" to carry his sweater over the finish line because he was being criticized for behaving in a "princely way."

According to speculations, he had planned on having his equipment bag carried by someone else. In addition, when he once hit a fifty, no one from his teammates was visible on the changing room balcony applauding him.

4. Alleged relationship with actor Nagma

There were widespread rumours of Ganguly's purported relationship with actress Nagma in early 2001 as India prepared to play Australia at home. The Two allegedly went to a South Indian temple & took part in a puja meant for married couples, according to rumours.

Dona Ganguly, Ganguly's wife, supported her husband throughout this and told Sify, "It's all nonsense. I'm furious with how some media outlets are attempting to accuse us. Regrettably, Sourav suffers from such things.

Even Ganguly's father, Chandidas Ganguly, told "The Times of India" that he believed the two's images had been doctored.

5. Forced Steve Waugh to await the toss

Another incident with him arriving on the field late surfaced in 2001. The calm Steve Waugh irritated him because of his delay during the Australia-India game, and he received criticism for arriving late to every game. Later, Ganguly said that he had missed only one match due to his inability to locate his blazer.

In 2006 at the 'Hindustan Times Summit', Ganguly acknowledged that he had purposefully arrived late for the toss against Steve Waugh during a 2001 series to teach the latter a few manners lessons.

6. Avoided playing on the grassy wicket

According to a report, Ganguly missed the third Test match between India and Australia at Nagpur in 2004 because of the grassy ground.

It's still a common myth that Ganguly chose to skip the crucial game because of how the grass looked on the field. He spoke out strongly about the necessity for a surface that benefits the host team in the weeks leading up to the game. On the morning of the Test, it was revealed that Harbhajan Singh and Ganguly would not participate owing to illness and groin injuries, respectively.

7. Greg Chappell's Ganguly Crash

In September 2005, "Greg Chappell," a former cricket player for Australia, was named India's head coach. Greg Chappel & Sourav Ganguly's debate made many headlines. Greg Chappel sent an email to the Board of Directors for Cricket in India asserting that Ganguly was "mentally and physically" unfit to lead India & also that his divide-and-rule strategies were harming the Indian team.

8. IPL is late for the toss

Outside international cricket, Ganguly continued to clash with the Australians in the "Indian Premier League" (IPL).

In 2008, Shane Warne expressed dissatisfaction following a game between Rajasthan Royals & the 'Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur. Warne took issue with the media over the fact that his team had to wait on the field for Ganguly to enter the field to start the batting while his batsman also had to stand five minutes for the opposition team.

In addition, he questioned Ganguly's decision to ask the umpire to rule regarding whether a Rajasthan fielder had made a catch cleanly.

In referring to a pledge made under the Spirit of Cricket, Warne said, "I was annoyed because, in Bangalore, we wrote that wall about the spirit of cricket."

To this, Ganguly responded in an interview with Times Now, saying, "We only need to look at Warne's record to realize that he has no moral standing to advise what the spirit of the game is. What Warne says makes me want to chuckle, and he shouldn't be discussing the game's soul.

9. Ganguly-Rahul Dravid

'Rahul Dravid' is the type of person who prefers everything to go as planned. According to Ganguly, he knew something wasn't right but lacked the courage to tell Chappell he was wrong.

Before the Zimbabwe series in 2005, he was requested to step down as captain. "Whatever happened with me a year ago in 'Zimbabwe' & the type of furore that ensued, any captain would presume that I play cricket gently, which is right also," he said when asked why.

10. The issue with the Indian White Ball Captaincy: Ganguly vs Kohli

In the wake of India's dismal 'ICC T20 World Cup 2021' campaign, Virat Kohli has been demoted from the position of ODI captain. Indian cricket fans immediately began to criticize BCCI after the decision. Virat Kohli's poor handling has been attributed primarily to BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.

The change in the ODI captain for India completely rocked the Indian cricketing community. How the duty was transferred from Kohli to Rohit Sharma raised more questions than the actual role change itself.

The BCCI confirmed Rohit's selection as India's white-ball skipper across all forms in a single tweet. No announcement from the BCCI outlining the change, no response from Sourav Ganguly, the departing captain Kohli, or even the newly appointed captain Rohit.

Records and Achievements

He is the first cricketer to have won four consecutive man-of-the-match awards, and he has 11,363 runs, ranking him third among Indians and ninth overall in ODI history. Additionally, he is the batter with the highest single score in an 'ICC Champions Trophy final (117).

The second-fastest batsman to reach 9,000 ODI runs, trailing only AB De Villiers of South Africa, who broke Ganguly's record in 2017.
Recorded the highest individual total (183) for an Indian batsman in the Cricket World Cup.
He never had a Test batting average below 40.
He was the 7th Indian cricketer to complete 100 Test matches and the fourth-highest run scorer for India overall.
The 4th Indian to play in more than 300 ODIs.
With 11 victories in 28 matches, he is India's most successful Test captain outside of India.

Awards

In 1998, Sourav Ganguly was awarded the Arjuna Award for his exceptional work in Indian cricket.
He won the CEAT Cricketer of the Year award in 2000 for his outstanding opening-position batting.
He received the CEAT Captain of the Year title for his performance the following year.
Ganguly received the "Padma Shri Award" for his outstanding contributions to Indian cricket in 2004, 2 years after obtaining it.
Ganguly received the "Banga Bibhushan Award" from the West Bengali govt in 2013.

Biopic of Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of team India, is the most recent name to be added to the list of biopics in Bollywood, joining Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Mohammad Azharuddin.
According to the scant information, Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor is leading the competition to portray him in the film, which is anticipated to have a 200–250 crore budget.
Former Indian cricketer confirms that "Luv Films" will create the film on him.
Sourav Ganguly underwent a speedy initial angioplasty to open a blocked coronary artery on January 3 after experiencing a minor heart attack.
He had a minor heart attack and underwent angioplasty at Woodlands Hospital on his right coronary artery. A few days later, he was released.

Less Popular Facts

Geoffrey Boycott, a former England cricketer, dubbed Dada the "Prince of Calcutta."
At their residence, Sourav Ganguly had a concrete wicket and an indoor multi-gym constructed. According to specific stories, Sourav is a profoundly pious guy and maintains a fast every Tuesday.
He began batting left-handed so that he may inherit his elder brother.
A 1.5 km road in Rajarhat, West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, bears his name.

Biography