‘Aaj Dada ka birthday hai’ – Fans celebrate former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s 51st birthday today
Sourav Ganguly (Source: Twitter)
Today (July 8) the former India skipper and Indian Cricket Board President, Sourav Ganguly celebrates his 51st birthday. He is considered one of the greatest captains in Indian cricket history. The Cricket Fraternity also calls him ‘Dada’.
His former teammate, and the current head coach of the Indian Cricket Team, Rahul Dravid used to call him ‘God of the offside’ as he preferred playing on the offside region. He played in 113 Tests and 311 ODIs throughout the course of his career, scoring a total of 7212 runs and 11363 runs, respectively. It should come as no surprise that he set, broke, and rewrote many records, some of which still remain to his name.
Sourav Ganguly – The third-highest ODI run-scorer for India
He was only the third batter to score a century in his debut Test match at Lord’s in 1996. He set a record for the highest individual Test score of 131 runs off 301 deliveries, the highest for any debutant back then. It was surpassed 25 years later by Devon Conway of New Zealand. He became the only player to get the ODI Man of the Match award four times in a row in 1997. The Sahara Cup match between India and Pakistan is where the former India captain achieved this feat. He and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka both hold this record.
In 1999 World Cup fixture against Sri Lanka, Ganguly scored 183 runs, which is the highest ODI total he has ever amassed. The first 300-run partnership in ODI cricket was put together by him and Dravid. For the second wicket, they scored 318 runs. In ODIs, only five teams have reached the 300-run partnership milestone.
After Sachin Tendulkar, who had struck 9 hundred in 1998, he had the second-most number of centuries in a calendar year (7) in 2000. Later, David Warner and Rohit Sharma equalled Ganguly’s record. He has the third-highest ODI run tally for India. He is just behind Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar in ODI runs with 11,363. Numerous achievements have graced Sourav Ganguly’s career. The Indian team excelled under his leadership, putting on some of the greatest displays in cricket history.
Here’s how fans wished Sourav Ganguly:
Happy Birthday Dada ❤️
My inspiration and idol, You will always be the Greatest Captain for me!
The Man. The Myth. The Legend✨@SGanguly99 #SouravGanguly #Dada— Dr. Abhinaba Pal (@abhinabavlogs) July 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/KrushangDave/status/1677551068841123840?s=20
https://twitter.com/yogeshnegi45/status/1677551399415218178?s=20
Happy Birthday to the legendary Sourav Ganguly!
A remarkable captain,a fearless opener, and a true inspiration for generations, Holding the record for 4 consecutive POTM awards in ODIs. A Great player 🙌#HappyBirthdayDada #SouravGanguly pic.twitter.com/2aX9Q9UCIG
— MOHIT YADAV (@immohityad) July 8, 2023
Happy birthday my inspiration,my idol…@Dada @SGanguly99 #SouravGanguly pic.twitter.com/Utz6RFVihn
— Mahi@ (@Mahirithik21) July 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/yogeshqmsr/status/1677552415799918592?s=20
HBD skipper 🎂
Sourav took over India's reins at worst possible scenario with cricket drowned in fixing saga. He dusted Indian ckt , put it back on rails & made careers out of rookie cricketers .
Open below link to watch his 144 v Aus at Gabba #SouravGanguly @NorthStandGang https://t.co/M0NF7TtA4C
— amitava (@amitava0112) July 8, 2023
The God Of, "OFF SIDE"!!
#SouravGanguly pic.twitter.com/424Jd9oKKH
— @nk!t (@i_m_born2fly) July 8, 2023
