A very very happy birthday His Highness Sourav Chandidas Ganguly...!!

Today is the birthday of the man who wrote the starting lines of Indian dominance in World Cricket after the era of Kapil's Devils who won the maiden world championship for IndiaSourav Ganguly well known as "DADA"(meaning Elder Brother in Bengali) to his bunch of die hards made his ODI debut in 1992 against the Carribeans. But he literally came into the Indian ODI team only after 2 years as a full fledged batsman Sourav made his test debut at lord's against the British and made a remarkable feat by scoring a 100. (Note that Sachin Tendulkar,regarded as the greatest batsman on this planet is yet to score a 100 in Lord's in his long cricketing career of almost 21 years!!)One of the most stylish,destructive and dreaded southpaws of world cricket, DADA is the second highest run scorer in ODIs for India standing only next to the phenomenal SRT.

Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, others swore that he was God on the off-side; some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain - forging a winning unit from a bunch of talented, but directionless, individuals - and nobody can argue about him being one of the greatest one-day batsmen of all time. Despite being a batsman who combined grace with surgical precision in his strokeplay, his career had spluttered to a standstill before being resurrected by a scintillating hundred on debut at Lord's in 1996. Later that year, he was promoted to the top of the order in ODIs and, along with Sachin Tendulkar, formed one of the most destructive opening pairs in history.

Sahara Cup v Pakistan, Toronto, 1997

• The kits are still white, the ball is still swinging, and India-Pakistan clashes are still rare. In his 34 ODIs till date, Ganguly has scored only one century and taken only one wicket. The wickets here are to his immense liking; he bowls accurately, getting just enough movement at just about the right pace, taking a wicket every 20 balls, and for 10 runs each. He is winning matches with the bat too, the most significant being the run-a-ball 75 as India successfully chase 160 in 26 overs. He ends up the best batsman and the best bowler in both the sides.He is the Man of the Match in the first match of the next year's Sahara Cup too.

Ganguly's greatest achievements as the captain

*Win over South Africa in the five-match one day series in 2000*Led the Indian team to the finals of the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy.

*Won the Test series 2–1, ending Australia's run of 16 consecutive Test match victories in the Second Test in 2001

*Led India to the victory of Natwest trophy 2002 in England.(The shirt that Ganguly took off at the finals of the Natwest Trophy is on display a store in London.It is shown along with other pics)

*In 2003, India reached the World Cup Final for the first time since 1983, where they lost to the Australians.

Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005, he was dropped from the team in October 2005.Having been nominated and rejected in 2000, when the game suffered a tarnished reputation due to match fixing scadals, the captaincy was passed to Dravid, his former deputy. Ganguly decided against retiring and attempted to make a comeback to the team.Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, one of India's highest awards. He was presented with the award on June 30, 2004, by then President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.