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Across a 16-year international career, Sourav Ganguly scored more than 18,000 runs at the highest level for India, including 38 international centuries. While many of his innings, from his century on Test debut at Lord’s to his first at the Eden Gardens 11 years later, have become iconic, there remain several hidden gems that even the most ardent Dada fans may no longer recall. On his birthday, My Kolkata digs up 10 such Ganguly knocks from the vault
The Prince rallies the Knights: Having never played T20Is for India, the first edition of the IPL was a golden opportunity for Ganguly to rediscover himself in the shortest format. While his IPL career never hit the high notes for too long at the Kolkata Knight Riders, Ganguly still produced a showstopper of an effort in the first season against the Kings XI Punjab at Eden. Chasing 175, KKR were losing wickets in bundles, but Ganguly remained steady at one end, refusing to stem the attack. In spite of being 70 for four after 10 overs and 106 for 6 midway through the 15th over, Ganguly rallied his troops and took them across the finish line with two balls to spare. His match-winning innings of 86 not out came off just 53 balls, studded with six fours and as many sixes
Nearly a centurion in Nagpur: Ganguly played some of his finest cricket in ODIs after making his comeback to the Indian team in 2005-06. One such knock came at Nagpur in early 2007, with India batting first and putting on a mammoth score of 338. Opening the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir, Ganguly was majestic en route to 98, before being run out just two runs shy of his 23rd ODI hundred. Despite a threatening 149 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, India went on to win the game by 14 runs
Lording over the English at Lord’s, again!: Think of Ganguly in the blue of India at Lord’s and it is difficult to think beyond his exploits in the 2002 Natwest Series final, the day all of England saw the chutzpah of an Indian captain with his shirt off. Two years later, Dada was back at the Home of Cricket, leading India to another victory. Batting first on a dicey wicket, it was Ganguly’s measured 90 that took India to a respectable tally of 204, which turned out to be 23 runs too many for England to chase. Apart from his batting, Ganguly had one of his best days on the field as captain, too, preventing India from a series whitewash
Brilliant in Brisbane: India’s 2003-04 tour of Australia is fondly looked back on now as one of the grittiest performances by the national team on Australian soil. The splendid innings by the likes of Rahul Dravid at Adelaide and Sachin Tendulkar at Sydney have aged better, but neither might have been possible had Ganguly not saved the team’s blushes in the first Test at Brisbane. With India reeling at 72 for three, and both Dravid and Tendulkar back in the hut, it was Ganguly who weathered the Aussie storm and crafted an exquisite 144 off 196 balls. With V.V.S. Laxman chipping in with 75, it proved enough for India to draw the match and move on to sunnier days in the Australian summer
The Ganguly and Sehwag show: It was one of those days when nothing went right for England. Having scored 269 runs against India in Colombo as part of a vital match at the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, the English bowling was taken to the cleaners by Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. The pair put on 192 inside 29 overs, with Sehwag teeing off as Ganguly played sheet anchor. After Sehwag bowed out for 126, Ganguly, first with Laxman and then Tendulkar, polished off the rest of the chase, finishing on an unbeaten 117 off 109 deliveries
The 99 that saved India: India were trailing by 86 runs on the last day of the second Test at Nottingham in 2002 when captain Ganguly walked into bat. With Tendulkar dismissed for 92, Ganguly and Dravid occupied the crease magnificently, without going into a defensive shell. Even after Dravid perished for 115, Ganguly went on, ensuring that India saved the game and batted out time, eventually finishing on 99, denied a well-deserved century by Steve Harmison
The King of Kandy: Heading into the Kandy Test against Sri Lanka in 2001, Ganguly was under the cosh, with no 50-plus score in 13 Test innings. With India needing 264 to win the Test, Ganguly walked into bat at 103 for two, with the result very much in the balance. What followed was an imperious display of batsmanship from the skipper, who blitzed his way to 98 not out off 152 balls. Sri Lanka’s strategy to turn Ganguly’s offside strengths into a weakness backfired big time, as Ganguly threaded his way repeatedly through a packed offside field to decide the match
Rear-guard action in Hamilton: Chasing a massive 415 in the fourth innings of the Hamilton Test in 1999, India had their task cut out against hosts New Zealand. The Kiwis were in the driving seat when both Indian openers were out on 55. Ganguly, who walked in ahead of Tendulkar, was supposed to keep India in the game alongside Dravid, and did just that. In a partnership that lasted close to 40 overs, both Ganguly and Dravid ended up with unbeaten centuries, as India converted an impending defeat into a comfortable draw
Putting Pakistan to the sword in Dhaka: Pakistan had all the momentum halfway through their Silver Jubilee Independence Cup clash with India in Dhaka, having posted 314 runs on the board. India had to chase the runs in a maximum of 48 overs, which forced Ganguly and Tendulkar to go for their strokes from ball one. Soon after Tendulkar departed for 41, Ganguly and Robin Singh made light work of the Pakistani attack. Ganguly eventually succumbed in the 43rd over, having notched up a man of the match-worthy display of 124 off 138 balls. With Javagal Srinath holding his nerves, India somehow scrambled to victory with one ball left to play
Ganguly’s moment in the desert: The 1998 Coca-Cola Cup will always be cherished for the twin centuries unleashed by Tendulkar against Australia. But an earlier innings of excellence from Ganguly in the same tournament deserves more attention than it gets. Facing New Zealand at Sharjah, India huffed and puffed their way to 220, which would have been impossible without a valiant 105 from Ganguly. Not his most vintage knock by any stretch of the imagination, Ganguly doubled down in the heat of the desert to guide India to a competitive score, after which Ajit Agarkar’s magic with the ball did the rest
