Maharaja - Tomare Selaam (CRICINFO)

Sourav Ganguly

India

Full name Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Born July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
Current age 36 years 91 days
Major teams India, Asia XI, Bengal, Glamorgan, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lancashire
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 5 ft 11 in
Education St Xavier's College
Relations Brother - Snehasish C Ganguly

Timeline

January 11, 1992
Inauspicious debut
Makes his ODI debut, his only international on the tour of Australia. Scores 3 and is duly dropped. His highest score on the tour is 29, against Queensland.

June 21 and 22, 1996
Test debut is different
In his first Test, at Lord's, scores an imperious century. Follows it up with another century in the very next Test at Trent Bridge, on July 4.

October 23, 1996
Quite a sighter
In his 11th one-dayer, in Jaipur, opens the innings for the first time, against South Africa. This is the first time the greatest opening combination in ODI history, him and Sachin Tendulkar, comes together. He scores 54, Tendulkar 64, in a 126-run stand.

August 20, 1997
Has a ball in Sri Lanka
Playing against Sri Lanka, scores his first ODI century, in his 32nd match, in Colombo. This innings follows a 147 in the second Test, an innings instrumental in drawing the Test.

September, 1997
If it's Toronto, it has to be Ganguly
High point of his career. Is the leading scorer and wicket-taker in the Sahara Cup. With 222 runs at 55.5 and 15 wickets at 10.66, he wins four Man-of-the-Match awards in five matches, and is the most unanimous Man of the Series, as India beat Pakistan 4-1.

November-December, 1997
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 2
With 392 runs at an average of 98, ends the three-Test home series against Sri Lanka as top scorer and Man of the Series.

January 18, 1998
Setting up a famous chase
Scores 124 against Pakistan in the then highest successful run-chase in ODI history, as India score 316 in 47.5 overs to win the Independence Cup in Dhaka.

July 7, 1998
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 3
Scores 109 against Sri Lanka in Colombo, in the then highest opening stand in ODIs. He and Tendulkar (128) put together 252 runs as India win the Singer-Akai-Nidahas Trophy final by six runs.

May 26, 1999
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 4
A day when he, in partnership, looks like breaking every batting record in the book. His 183 in Taunton is the then highest ODI score by an Indian; the 318-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (145) is the then highest partnership ever; and India's 373 for 6 is the then second-largest ODI total.

September, 1999
Captaincy calibre
Captains India for the first time in the Coca-Cola Singapore Challenge tournament, against West Indies, as Tendulkar is rested due to a sore back. Barely a week later, he leads India again in the DMC Cup - with Tendulkar skipping the tournament due to an injury - against West Indies. India win the series 2-1.

February, 2000
County calling
Signs up to replace Muttiah Muralitharan as Lancashire's overseas cricketer.

February 26, 2000
Tendulkar resigns, Ganguly obliges
Is named captain of the Indian team for the five-ODI home series against South Africa. The announcement comes after Tendulkar has resigned from captaincy. At the prime of his one-day form, he ends the series as top run-getter, and India win a closely fought series. Is named full-time captain after the series.

March 21, 2001
Final frontier remains
End of a month of enthralling Test cricket. Ganguly is the leading face of a brash, aggressive Indian team who come back from an impossible situation to beat Australia 2-1. Is vindicated as a captain.

November, 2001
Tête-à-tête with match-referee
In an unprecedented and highly controversial action, Ganguly and five other Indian players are summoned by Mike Denness, the match-referee, and warned for excessive appealing during the Port Elizabeth Test. He is also accused of not controlling his players, and is punished with a suspended ban for one Test match and two one-day international matches. India lose the three-Test series 2-0, and the third is deemed unofficial by the ICC amid threats of a revolt by India and the BCCI.

July 13, 2002
Paying them in the same currency
Is seen waving his shirt emphatically at the Lord's balcony as an incredible win in the NatWest Series final caps off impressive back-to-back tours of West Indies and England. India had lost their last nine finals in a row, six under Ganguly. He scores a century in the Test series that follows. India draw the series 1-1.

March 20, 2003
Promised land
Scores a century in the World Cup semi-final as India make it to the final for the first time since 1983.

December 7, 2003
Leading from the front
In Brisbane, scores a brilliant counter-attacking century in a tricky situation to set the tone for Indian batsmen on the Australian tour.

April 16, 2004
Neighbours won over
Becomes the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan. Also with 15 Test wins, he becomes India's most successful captain. India win the five-ODI series too by a margin of 3-2.

October 10, 2004
Beginning of the false end
India lose the first Test against Australia in Bangalore by 217 runs. He struggles both as a batsman and as a captain, and his withdrawal from the last two Tests due to injury leads to much media speculation and controversy. Australia capture the final frontier with a 2-1 series win.

March 28, 2005
Decline continues
The signs of his decline are obvious after a dismal showing in a drawn series at home against Pakistan. Pakistan side triumphs in the decider at Bangalore, virtually signalling the end of the successful Ganguly-Wright relationship. Ganguly scores 48 runs in the series, at 9.60.

April 12, 2005
Bad gets worse
After the fourth ODI against Pakistan, with the six-match ODI series tied 2-2, he is banned for six matches for a slow-over rate and has to watch from the sidelines as India go down 2-4 to Pakistan.

September 15, 2005
After hundred, comes nadir
A slow hundred against a depleted Zimbabwe sends the critics into raptures, only for the controversial Ganguly-Greg Chappell saga to blow up in everyone's faces. Ganguly goes public with his dismay at Chappell's suggestions during the match that he step down from the captaincy, and the media goes wild. Chappell is not amused, maintaining that the Indian captain asked him for his honest opinion on his form and leadership in a private meeting between the two. The tour goes on, with India unsurprisingly beating Zimbabwe 2-0. On the team's return to India Ganguly is publicly ostracised and there are more and more calls for his sacking. Forty-eight hours after saying that he respected the Indian captain and looked forward to working with him in the future, Chappell fires off a damning memorandum to the BCCI.

October 21, 2005
Refusal to die
Hits a century in the Duleep Trophy match against a strong North Zone attack to remind the world that he is not done yet.

November 22, 2005
Passes the thorny baton
The selectors end his five-year reign as Test captain when they pick Rahul Dravid to lead India in the Tests against Sri Lanka.

January to March, 2006
Uninvited
Is picked for the Test series in Pakistan. Does not bat in the first Test, is dropped for the second, and scores 34 and 37 in the third in Karachi. His performance isn't enough to secure a spot in the one-day series that followed. Is not picked for the home Tests against England.

December 7, 2006
Beginning of the end of the end
India are doing miserably in South Africa, having lost all the one-dayers. Ganguly is picked for the Tests. India are 1 for 2, 37 for 3, 59 for 4 against Rest of South Africa in Potchefstroom. Ganguly comes in and scores 83, India win, and take momentum into the Test series.

December 15, 2006
Riposte continues
Scores a half-century with the tail in the Johannesburg Test, as India reach a crucial 249 and bowl South Africa out for 84. They go on to win by 123 runs, but lose in the final Test to squander an opportunity for a rare series win. Ganguly is the leading run-getter for India.

January 21, 2007
ODIs, here I come, again
In Nagpur, on his ODI comeback, scores 98 against West Indies. India go on to score 338 and win by 14 runs.

May 18-19, 2007
I have been expecting you, Test ton
Scores an even 100 in Chittagong, his third century in three-and-a-half years. His last two centuries are Bulawayo, 2005 and Brisbane, 2003.

July-August, 2007
Feels like home in England
Scores 249 runs at 49.80 in India's series win in England, and has secured his place in both Test and ODI sides.

November-December, 2007
E-done and double delight
Scores his first Test century at Eden Gardens, his home ground, and follows it up with his first double-century, in Bangalore. Pakistan are at the receiving end, as he top-scores with 534 runs in three Tests at an average of 89, and is the Man of the Series.

December 2007-January 2008
Beginning of another false end?
A mixed Test series in Australia (235 runs at 29.37, two half-centuries) is followed up by the ODI axe for the CB Series in Australia.

April 12, 2008
Mastering the Mean Street
On an under-prepared, dual-paced pitch in Kanpur, Ganguly scores a serene 87 to help India level the three-Test series against South Africa. Later calls it one of his best Test innings.

October 7, 2008
'I've decided to quit'
Two days before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, announces it will be his last series. There have been talks doing the rounds that the BCCI has been trying to force the seniors into retirmement. He first denies such notions in a press conference, and then when the presser is over, makes the announcement. "Just one last thing lads, before I leave," he says. "I just want to say that this is going to be my last series. I've decided to quit. I told my team-mates before coming here. These four Test matches are going to be my last and hopefully we'll go on a winning note."