Saurabh Ganguly (The Bengal Tiger)

Sourav Ganguly

India
Player profile

Full name Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Born July 8, 1972, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal
Current age 36 years 125 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


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Batting and fielding averages


Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
Tests 112 186 17 7127 239 42.17 13916 51.21 16 34 892 56 71 0
ODIs 311 300 23 11363 183 41.02 15416 73.70 22 72 1122 190 100 0
First-class 240 380 43 14779 239 43.85 31 83 165 0
List A 423 407 42 15161 183 41.53 31 93 130 0
Twenty20 31 30 2 726 91 25.92 657 110.50 0 4 80 24 11 0

Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 112 99 3117 1681 32 3/28 3/37 52.53 3.23 97.4 0 0 0
ODIs 311 171 4561 3849 100 5/16 5/16 38.49 5.06 45.6 1 2 0
First-class 240 10920 6013 164 6/46 36.66 3.30 66.5 4 0
List A 423 7949 6454 168 5/16 5/16 38.41 4.87 47.3 4 2 0
Twenty20 31 24 417 521 25 3/27 3/27 20.84 7.49 16.6 0 0 0


Career statistics
Test debut England v India at Lord's, Jun 20-24, 1996 scorecard
Last Test India v Australia at Delhi, Oct 29-Nov 2, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics - Statsguru Test analysis - Player analysis menu/filter Test match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Bowling match list Best innings bowling Best match bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most catches in an innings Fielding series statistics
ODI debut India v West Indies at Brisbane, Jan 11, 1992 scorecard
Last ODI India v Pakistan at Gwalior, Nov 15, 2007 scorecard
ODI statistics - Statsguru ODI analysis - Player analysis menu/filter ODI match list --------------------------------- Batting career summary Batting innings list High scores Batting series averages --------------------------------- Bowling career summary Bowling innings list Best innings bowling Bowling series averages --------------------------------- Fielding career summary Fielding innings list Most catches in an innings Fielding series statistics
First-class debut 1989/90
Last First-class India v Australia at Delhi, Oct 29-Nov 2, 2008 scorecard
List A debut 1989/90
Last List A East Zone v West Zone at Hyderabad (Decc), Mar 17, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut Glamorgan v Somerset at Cardiff, Jun 22, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20 Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab at Kolkata, May 25, 2008 scorecard


Profile


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.

When he took over the captaincy after the match-fixing exposes in 2000, he quickly proved to be a tough, intuitive and uncompromising leader. Under his stewardship India started winning Test matches away, and put together a splendid streak that took them all the way to the World Cup final in 2003. Later that year, in Australia, an unexpected and incandescent hundred at Brisbane set the tone for the series where India fought the world's best team to a standstill. Victory in Pakistan turned him into a cult figure but instead of being a springboard for greater things, it was the peak of a slippery slope.

The beginning of the end came in 2004 at Nagpur - when his last-minute withdrawal played a part in Australia clinching the series - and things went pear shaped when his loss of personal form coincided with India's insipid ODI performances. Breaking point was reached when his differences with Greg Chappell leaked into public domain and his career was in jeopardy when India began their remarkable revival under Rahul Dravid.

His gritty 30s at Karachi, when India succumbed to a humiliating defeat in early 2006, weren't enough for him to retain his spot and some felt he would never get another chance. Others, as always, thought otherwise and they were proved right when he was included in the Test squad for the away series in South Africa in 2006-2007. He ended as the highest Indian run-scorer in that series and capped his fairytale comeback with four half-centuries on his return to ODIs. He continued his fine run in England, where he finished as the second highest scorer in Tests, and went on to slam back-to-back hundreds against Pakistan at home, the second of which was a glorious 239 in Bangalore. Ganguly was surprisingly omitted from India's ODI squad for the CB Series in Australia and has been out of contention in the one-day squad since. After a poor Test series in Sri Lanka, there were reports of him considering retirement but he was given a lifeline in the Tests against Australia at home. Two days before the first Test, he said the series would be his last.