Birthday special: Sourav Ganguly – 5 lesser-known facts

Sourav Ganguly’s name is taken with great respect and appreciation by Indian fans. The former Indian captain established a culture in the dressing room that spurred the team to Test victories on foreign soil. Regarded as one of the greatest ODI batters of all time, Ganguly formed a daunting partnership with Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order. As the former BCCI president turns 51 today, we look at some of the lesser-known facts about the Prince of Kolkata.

Sourav Ganguly’s career was greatly influenced by his brother

Things would have been very different for not only Sourav Ganguly but for Indian cricket as well if it wasn’t for his elder brother Snehasish Ganguly, who supported him in his cricketing journey. The former Indian captain is right-handed by birth and uses that hand predominantly in his day-to-day life. But he started batting with the left hand because his elder brother was a left-handed batter and he used to play with his equipment.

India never lost a Test match whenever Ganguly scored a hundred

Sourav Ganguly made his Test debut for India in 1996 against England at Lord’s and announced himself in international cricket with a magnificent century on debut. India drew that Test, and it became a trend throughout Ganguly’s career as India never lost a Test match in which the Southpaw registered a century.

Ganguly captained the Indian team for 5 minutes in his last international match at MS Dhoni’s request

Sourav Ganguly retired from international cricket after India’s match against Australia in 2008 in Nagpur. The former India captain had made the announcement before the start of the home series against Australia. He was handed the captaincy for the last few minutes of the game as a tribute by then captain MS Dhoni.

Ganguly played the first ball of IPL

Following his retirement from international cricket, ‘Dada’, as he is famously known, was roped in by IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders. He was appointed as the captain of the side in the inaugural edition of the competition. The left-handed opener played the first ball of the IPL in the opening fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sourav Ganguly has a road named after him in West Bengal

The Govt of Bengal commemorated the achievement of Sourav Ganguly by naming a road after him in West Bengal. ‘Sourav Ganguly Avenue’ is the name of the 1.5 km long road in Rajarhat in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.