Sourav Ganguly: To the one who shaped a young Indian cricket team, as Dada turns 51

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Dada for his explosive batting style or love him, but nothing in between. Having represented India in as many as 424 matches with a total of 18,575 runs, Sourav Ganguly is easily one of the greats of Indian cricket. The Prince of Kolkata turned 52 today, and the country cannot stop reminiscing the highlights of his career.

Ganguly is regarded with shaping and leading a young team when Indian cricket was marred with allegations of match-fixing. With young players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and MS Dhoni, Dada ushered in a new era in cricket in the country. There has hardly been a batsmen who has matched clean off-side shots like Dada used to hit.

The God of Offside, as regarded by contemporary Rahul Dravid and picked up by the fraternity, has left fans spellbound with his batting style. In his two-decade long career, Sourav Ganguly served as batsman, captain, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India — and his contributions have not ceased. The former skipper continues to be associated with the IPL as Delhi Capital’s Director of Cricket.

A left-handed batter, Ganguly made his Test debut in 1996 against England where he went on to score a century at Lord’s. Dada continued to make headlines and soon became only the third batsman in history to score centuries in both innings of the first test match. He went on to play 113 Tests scoring 7,212 runs with 16 centuries, 35 half centuries at an average of 42.17.

Subsequently, Ganguly made his debut in 50-overs cricket in 1997 and booked his place with the Indian side as he won player of the match for four consecutive matches against Pakistan. In this format, the Kolkata Prince scored as many as 22 centuries and 72 half-centuries. While he wore the Indian