IN PICS: The top-five highest individual scores at World Cup
Ganguly confuses Harbhajan's daughter for son
APJ Abdul Kalam with Indian cricketers
When a Ganguly-inspired India sent World Cup 1999 host England out of the competition
While Sachin Tendulkar is often hailed as ‘God’ by his fans, in Kolkata there is only one ‘God’ — Sourav Ganguly. Nothing comes close to the fanatical following Ganguly enjoys in Dominique Lapierre’s City of Joy. Yet, the man generates extreme reactions across the length and breadth of the nation.
Rahul Dravid once famously said, “On the offside, first there is God and then Sourav Ganguly.” Nobody hit the left-arm spinner hard and high over the straight field and midwicket as imperiously as Ganguly. But his critics countered all the hosannas showered on Ganguly by questioning his fragility against the short rising ball.
His supporters hail him as the man who changed the mindset of Indian cricket with unalloyed aggression. They also laud him for empowering the youthful elements in the side and gaining their unstinting loyalty. But his infamous differences with coach Greg Chappell saw the Australian write to the Indian cricket board, charging him of demoralising the team, being panicky, self-centred, feigning injuries and using a divide and rule policy to favour some to the detriment of others. That leaked letter took much of the sheen of Ganguly’s leadership.
Ganguly is a battler. His best came after a year in the wilderness when he returned to enjoy a consistent series in South Africa in 2006-07. It was in this comeback phase that he scored 239 — his highest in Tests — and 91 against Pakistan at Bangalore. But his best, arguably, came a few months later when he scored 87 on against Dale Steyn & Co. on a treacherous wicket. He got a hundred in his first two Tests and got a hundred in his third-last Test and a near-hundred in his last.
As an ODI batsman, however, there cannot be any dispute regarding his supremacy. There have been few batsmen who have been as consistent in the fifty-over cricket as Ganguly; with 11,363 runs at 41.02 and 22 hundreds he is certainly one of the finest in the format.
Ganguly consistently courted controversy, right from his first tour 1991-92 till well after his retirement. It was sad to see Kolkata Knight Riders not wanting his service any longer. But worse was to follow when he went unsold at the 2011 auction.
Whatever his critics say, Ganguly’s place as one of the important figures of Indian cricket cannot be disputed.
H Natarajan
Career | M | In | R | NO | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
Test | 113 | 188 | 7212 | 17 | 239 | 42.17 | 14070 | 51.25 | 16 | 35 | 900 | 57 | 71 | 0 |
ODIs | 311 | 300 | 11363 | 23 | 183 | 41.02 | 15416 | 73.70 | 22 | 72 | 1122 | 190 | 100 | 0 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
World Cup | 21 | 21 | 1006 | 3 | 183 | 55.88 | 1298 | 77.50 | 4 | 3 | 79 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
Career | M | B | R | W | Avg | EC | SR | 5WI | 10WM | BBI | BBM |
Test | 113 | 3117 | 1681 | 32 | 52.53 | 3.235 | 97. | 0 | 0 | 3/22 | 3/22 |
ODIs | 311 | 4561 | 3849 | 100 | 38.49 | 5.063 | 45.61 | 2 | 0 | 5/16 | 5/16 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
World Cup | 21 | 372 | 305 | 10 | 30.50 | 4.919 | 37.20 | 0 | -- | 3/27 | 5/16 |
Test Debut
England v India at Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood, June 20, 1996
Last Test
India v Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, November 6, 2008
ODI Debut
India v West Indies at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, January 11, 1992
Last ODI
India v Pakistan at Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior, November 15, 2007
Kohli is already India's most successful Test captain with 35 Test wins from 59 matches while Dhoni is next on the list with 27 from 60 ...
In a throwback video, watch as Sourav Ganguly reveals what he liked about Shah Rukh Khan and how Shoaib Akhtar reacted after first ...
A total of 292 players will go under the hammer in the Indian Premier League auction, which will be held in Chennai on February 18.
Sourav Ganguly has been discharged from the Appolo hospital in Kolkata on Sunday
Usually, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India takes over as the head of the ACC, but in this case, it is the ...
Ganguly had complained of chest pain while exercising at his residence around three weeks ago.
It was an eventful day for Sourav Ganguly as he starred for India with the ball and then the bat in a dominating nine-wicket win in Kanpur.
Kohli had equaled Dhoni’s record as he won his 27th Test as India captain during India’s win in the first Test against West Indies.
Lancashire's three biggest Indian signings were all pretty contrasting.
Our correspondent visits Taunton, where 20 years ago, Ganguly and Dravid produced a run-fest and left behind a slew of records in their wake.
A look at some of the stats highlights for India at the World Cup since its inception in 1975.
Cricket World Cup 2019 -- A look at the top five highest individual scores at the quadrennial tournament
04 Mar, 2021 09:30 IST
Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 1st T20I
04 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2nd T20I
06 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 3rd T20I
08 Mar, 2021 03:30 IST
Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua
New Zealand vs Australia - 5th T20I
07 Mar, 2021 08:30 IST
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
New Zealand vs Australia - 3rd T20I
03 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand vs Australia - 4th T20I
05 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe - 1st Test
02 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe - 2nd Test
10 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 1st ODI
10 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 2nd ODI
12 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
West Indies vs Sri Lanka - 3rd ODI
14 Mar, 2021 23:00 IST
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua
New Zealand vs Australia - 3rd T20I
03 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST | 06:00 GMT
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
04 Mar, 2021 09:30 IST | 04:00 GMT
Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
New Zealand vs Australia - 4th T20I
05 Mar, 2021 11:30 IST | 06:00 GMT
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand vs Australia - 5th T20I
07 Mar, 2021 08:30 IST | 03:00 GMT
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
12 Mar, 2021 19:00 IST | 13:30 GMT
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
New Zealand vs Australia - 2nd T20I
New Zealand beat Australia by 4 runs
India beat England by 10 wickets
New Zealand vs Australia - 1st T20I
New Zealand beat Australia by 53 runs
India beat England by 317 runs
Pakistan vs South Africa - 3rd T20I
Pakistan beat South Africa by 4 wickets