Sourav Ganguly Birthday: Team India's Top 5 Performances Under Dada's Captaincy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOURAV GANGULY: Sourav Ganguly is often regarded as one of the best Captains India has ever produced. Known as the “Prince of Calcutta”, Ganguly was an enigmatic player with an off-side game unmatched by anyone. His aggressive style of batting resonated with his captaincy and has solidified his status as one of the best captains alongside MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev.

Under Dada’s captaincy, India reached heights unlike ever before and became a force to reckon with. Whether it was the faith he instilled in the youngsters or the display of aggressive batting from the batting unit under him, Ganguly transcended the game in India.

Some of the major victories of the Indian Cricket Team came under his leadership. Here are some of the greatest victories of India under Ganguly:

1. The Natwest Finals of 2002There’s no Indian cricket fan who doesn’t remember Sourav Ganguly’s iconic celebration from the Lord’s balcony after India triumphed in the Natwest Finals. The finals marked everything that Ganguly’s captaincy signified from aggressive batting, youngsters stepping up and the never give up attitude to the captain taking the perfect revenge through his celebration. India stepped up and completed their highest successful run chase at that time on the back of two youngsters in Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh.
2. Beating the arch-rivals in their home groundIndia and Pakistan rivalry that is arguably the biggest rivalry in cricket, only contended by the Ashes. When India toured Pakistan in 2004 the eyeballs were set and after 2 Tests the series was tied 1-1. Then came the decider in Rawalpindi where India dominated Pakistan and defeated them at their home by an innings. Rahul Dravid did justice to his name and stood like a wall against the fiery Pakistan bowling unit and scored a career-high 270. Beating the arch-rivals in a series skyrocketed Dada’s popularity and fan support.
3. The unthinkable triumph at the Eden GardenAustralia in the 2000s was at the top of the world in cricket. With a fearsome bowling unit and a batting line-up of legends beating Australia was always a difficult task. But India not only beat them but made a comeback after being asked to follow on. Performances from Dravid (180), VVS Laxman (281) and a hat trick by Harbhajan who accounted for 13 scalps in that match saw India do the unthinkable.
4. Defeating the fearsome Pakistani bowling line-upIndia lost the finals in 2003 to the dominant Australian side who were dominating the world cricket in that era. However, the run on which the Ganguly-led team went in that tournament was marvellous. India faced Pakistan and the stakes for the match were higher than any match in the World Cup. Pakistan batted first and put on a very competitive total of 273 on board. But the score became an easy target when Sachin Tendulkar came out all guns blazing and scored 98 in just 75 balls and took India to victory. The contest between the Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar became the highlight of the game and is remembered to this day.
5. Defeating the World Champions on their home turfIndia’s tour of Australia in 2003 was a big turning point in India’s cricketing journey. Regarded as arguably the greatest away win of India, when they met the fierce Australian side in Adelaide for the 2nd Test no one expected them to win. Especially after a master class by Ricky Ponting who scored 242 runs and led Australia to a mammoth score of 556. But what came after was two gritty and remarkable innings by VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid who scored 233 and 148 runs respectively also accompanied by an exceptional bowling performance from Ajit Agarkar in the second innings taking 6 wickets.