Born: 8 July 1972, Calcutta, Major Teams: Bengal, India, Lancashire. Known As: Sourav Ganguly, Batting Style: Left Hand Bat, Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium
It's finally official- The Prince of Bengal is back. The intense speculation over the last couple of days has finally been put to rest. Ganguly will join the Indian team in South Africa for the test series scheduled to begin on December 15. Ganguly I'm sure must feel extremely vindicated with this decision. After being uncermoniously dropped from the Indian Squad at the beginning of the year, about 9 months ago, the selectors had made it quite clear his days of playing for the national side were over. His recall just goes to show how bad the situation is. Indian cricket is completely down in the dumps right now. The selectors were so desparate they just had to get him back. With Dravid being ruled out of the first test because of a finger injury, the selectors and the Indian public are hoping Ganguly's inclusion along with V V S Laxman, will provide some stability to the Indian batting order. Laxman has by the way been made vice-captain for the test series.
It's going to be quite interesting to watch how the Chappell-Ganguly relationshop progresses from here. How can we forget the emails that were leaked, which had the Indian coach attacking Ganguly and vice versa. Will they be able to put their differences behind them and move forward...
Will Ganguly's return be the much needed motivating factor to get Team India back on track????
A billion Indian hopes are riding on the Prince of Bengal.
JOGINDER SINGH
LiveIndia.com
16.09.2010
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly Statistics
Born: 8 July 1972, Calcutta
Major Teams: Bengal, India, Lancashire.
Known As: Sourav Ganguly
Batting Style: Left Hand Bat
Bowling
Profile: Saurav Ganguly, the Prince of Calcutta has a fan following of millions and that is justified
considering the number of winning knocks he has played for India. His batting is the perfect
blend of elegance and power. He has all the traditional style that goes with left handed
batsmanship. He is also a superb/ perfect timer of the ball. The manner in which he steps out
and pounces on the ball, like a tiger on a hapless prey, is something to be enjoyed on the spot.
He is one of the most aggressive Captain India has ever had and has emerged as one thekey
components of the Indian team. His ability to play shots on the off side is special because there
are very few players who can hit the ball in that area as crisply as he does. He is an aggressive
left-handed batsman and is also an effective (right-handed) medium pace bowler. He tarted his
international career as a 19 year old during the tour to Australia in 1991-92 where both his ability
and attitude was questioned. His recall for the 1996 tour to England was severely criticised as
one of the evils of India's "quota" system. But he answered that in style by not only scoring
centuries in his first two Test innings but also capturing vital wickets to bag the Man of the
series award. Still he was considered fit only for the Test matches because of his inability to
play onside strokes. He worked on that problem and became a household name in India after the
Sahara Cup in Toronto where he won several matches for India against Pakistan. Besides
several superlative batting performance (including 75* in 75 balls), he exploited the conditions to
return some excellent bowling figures (including 5-16). He is often criticised for his running
between the wickets and if he works on that, the way he has worked on his leg-side then he will
definitely become a formidable force in the World of Cricket
His batting is the perfect blend of elegance and power. He has all the traditional style that goes with left handed batsmanship. With superb timing he almost caresses the ball to the boundary. But when the mood gets to him - particularly in the one day game - his batting can be a murderous assault on the bowlers and a delight to the spectators. The manner in which he steps out and pounces on the ball, like a tiger on a hapless prey, is something to be enjoyed on the spot.
But then Sourav Ganguly is not just strokes and class and powerful batting. He has a sound temperament and the ability to rise to the big occasion. Only a person who is mentally strong could have responded in the manner he did to widespread criticism to his selection for the tour of England in 1996. When he first went as a teenager to Australia in 1991-92 he was far from ready for the big time, despite his manifold gifts. By the time of his comeback, a mixture of talent and hard work had made Ganguly capable of the dream feat with which he launched his Test career. Since then, it has been impossible to envisage an Indian team in both forms of the game without him. On the strength of his figures and undoubted class, he has taken his place as among the `Big Three' of the Indian batting order. Few would deny him his place as probably the greatest Indian left hander of all time. And in the last year, he has also proved himself to be a tough, no nonsense captain. A record of four wins and only one defeat in his first six Test matches as captain - including a memorable series triumph over the formidable Aussies - augurs well for him as a leader.
Test Debut: India v England at Lord's, 2nd Test, 1996
ODI Debut: India v West Indies at Brisbane, World Series, 1991/92
Family
Dad's Name : Chandi Das Ganguly
Wife's Name : Dona Ganguly
Ganguly was born to a life of luxury and comfort as he was the son of an affluent printer. Ganguly is perhaps one of the richest
Indian cricketer of recent times. Ganguly's father presides over a big joint family of over 50 people, though they all do not live in
the same house. There are 22 bedrooms in his house, and the family possesses over 20 cars.
His first step towards cricket
Ganguly's first step towards cricket was a happy accident of fate: Ganguly was not encouraged to play cricket because his
parents wanted him to focus on his studies. But his elder brother Snehasish was an accomplished cricketer. He was a
left-hander so Sourav simply followed his brother and started playing with left hand. It was convenient for him because he could
thus use his brother's cricket equipment; for his fans, it was a blessed stroke of luck, for the joys of the left-handed drive in cricket surpass almost everything else. One fine day during his holidays, Sourav asked his father to get him enrolled in a
cricket academy as he was finding difficult to pass his time.
Setbacks
An under-15 Orissa cricket team happened to be in Calcutta, and Sourav happened to smash them with a century. Young
Sourav had found his métier. But the pain was yet to come. A hundred (121) for East Zone against West Zone in the Duleep
Trophy in 1991 earned Sourav a place on the tour of Australia in 1991-92. He was played in only one One-day International
match and was then forgotten for over four years. He thought that his career as an international cricketer was over as he was
ridiculed as a non-talent, and it was alleged that he had 'attitude problems'. They said he refused to carry drinks for his
teammates, he was too high-headed and arrogant, he behaved like a Maharaja, an emperor. None of it was true, says Sourav. But the labels stuck, and Sourav was a forgotten man. He was left alone to sort out his career, and to reinforce his shattered
confidence, with some help from an English rugby team sports psychologist.
Success at last !
But fate had more surprises in store. Sourav was chosen to tour England with the Indian team in 1996. Navjot SinghSidhu, his
roommate on the tour, chose to walk out of the team after a misunderstanding with captain Azharuddin, while Sanjay Manjrekar
was injured. Sourav thus got a chance to make his Test debut. There was a crescendo of criticism on his selection for the tour;
that the Bengal lobby was at the base of his inclusion was the harsh and unanimous verdict. But all that lasted only till the
second Test at Lord's where he blasted a superb century.
As a person
Sourav Ganguly is a quiet, unassuming, undemonstrative man with nerves of steel. As the current captain of the team, Ganguly's
aggressive batting and big scores testify to the fact that he has learnt to deal with pressure and the burden of leading the country
does not constraint him. In fact, the responsibility seems to have had an encouraging effect; he is beginning to emerge from the
shadow of Sachin Tendulkar. Sourav is a deeply religious person and observes a fast every Tuesday.
His marriage
He is married to Dona, who was a next-door neighbour to the Ganguly family. Their fathers were once friends but the relationship
was strained and the young couple got married under cover. It was a typical Hindi movie love story where the hero and heroine
are separated by their parents and so they run off to get married. And like the movie ends their families too reconciled but only in the end i.e. after the marraige.
His first love
You all will be surprised to know that 'Football' is Saurav's first love. He played for his school football team for four years. But
since there were not many opportunities in football, he shifted to cricket. This shift of game was because of his father, who made
him join a cricket coaching club. His father Mr. Chandi Ganguly had also played for the state.
His Secret
Now we will tell you a private habit of your favourite cricketer.............The first thing Saurav does after he checks into a hotel
room is to place the portrait of goddess Kali and the picture of his wife Dona on his bed side table. For this Bengal Tiger there
is nothing more relaxing than watching Dona (his wife who is a classical dancer)perform a dance routine.
Achievements
Ganguly was appointed the Captain of the Indian cricket team in February, 2000.
Ganguly was the Man of the Series in the New Zealand-India 5 match ODI series in November 1999.
Ganguly made a mammoth 183 against Sri Lanka in World Cup 1999, which, at that time, was the Highest ODI Score by an
Indian, beating Kapil Dev's Record of 175*.
Ganguly was the Man of the Series in the Pepsi Cup 1999 (March-April) for scoring 278 runs and taking 6 wickets in total.
Saurav Ganguly has the distinction of being one of the few players in the World to Score a century and take 4 wickets in the
same match. (ODIs)
Saurav Ganguly along with Tendulkar forms the 4th Best Opening Pair in the History of One-day cricket.
Saurav Ganguly and Tendulkar were involved in a World Record Opening Partnership of 252.
Saurav Ganguly scored a Century on Debut at Lords in 1996, and went on to score a century in the very next match as well.
Saurav Ganguly was named Sport star Person of the Year 1998. He also won the Arjuna Award in 1998.
Saurav Ganguly was the Highest Run-Scorer for India in ODIs in 1997.
In the Sahara Cup 1997, Saurav Ganguly set a new World Record for 5 consecutive Man of the Match Awards. He was also the
Man of the Series.
Sourav Ganguly was a very happy man after India's majestic six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in what many had described as the mother of all battles. "It was a huge game back home, schools were closed offices were closed and we're so happy we could make everybody smile back in India," a smiling Indian skipper said after the contest, which saw the two sub-continental rivals lock horns in the international arena for the first time in three years.
Ganguly also praised Sachin Tendulkar, whose 75-ball 98 at the top of the order paved the way for the Indian win. "He's been in great form and it's not the first time (that he has played a match-winning innings), he's a champion in one word and the knock he played is one of the best I've seen him play," Ganguly observed.
With India now carrying eight points into the Super Six stage (four for beating one of the qualifiers and four more for their other wins), Ganguly went on to add justifiably that his team now had a bright chance of making the semi-finals.
Tendulkar, who was deservedly named the Man of the Match, meanwhile, rated his match-winning knock as one of his best innings, despite missing his 35th ODI ton after being dismissed by a snorter from Shoaib Akhtar.
"It's obviously one of the most important innings I've played and when it's a World Cup match against Pakistan that makes it a special innings and I'll put it right up there," the little master observed.
"I was picking the line and length quite early today and felt very comfortable there in the middle from the moment of playing the back foot cover drive off Wasim," he added.
Talking about his problems towards the latter half of his innings, Tendulkar said, "I started getting cramps and it went from bad to worse, there was a stage in the game when I even couldn't stand properly."
Losing skipper Waqar Younis, for his part, blamed the Pakistan bowlers. "Looking at the total of 270 it seemed a good one, but unfortunately we didn't bowl that well, we bowled both sides of the wicket."
He, though, gave credit to Tendulkar too.
"A brilliant innings, I think getting 110 in the first 11 overs took the game away from us," Waqar accepted, adding, "India played much better than us today. When we took Sachin's wicket we thought we came back into the game, Dravid came in and played like he normally plays and it was an excellent role,that was required."
