5 memorable ODI knocks by Sourav Ganguly
8th of July, 2018 the day when Sourav Ganguly celebrates his 46th birthday. The prince of Kolkata is one of the greatest Indian batsmen of all time and is highly attributed for Indian teams’ revival in world cricket.
Lovingly called as ‘Dada’ by his fans, Sourav Ganguly is the man every Indian cricket fan idolized. Known for his flamboyant playing style, the left-hander from Bengal captained India from 2000-05 in ODI cricket. He also led his country in Test cricket on 49 occasions. It was under Ganguly's leadership that India reached the final of 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.
The former Indian skipper scored 11,363 runs in 311 ODI matches and is one of only eight men to scored over 11,000 runs in ODIs. Along with that Ganguly scored 7,212 runs in 112 Tests.
It is fair to say that the Prince of Kolkata was undoubtedly one of the most dynamic Indian batsmen of all time. Often known to think out of the box, Sourav Ganguly revolutionalised Indian cricket. Players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra credit their career success to dada for his empowering influence.
With that out of the way, let us take a look at Sourav Ganguly's 5 memorable ODI innings:
#1 183 vs Sri Lanka, 1999
Probably the greatest knock by an Indian at a World Cup game. Dada made 183 of 158 deliveries to help India post a mammoth total of 373 against Sri Lanka in Taunton. With 17 fours and 7 sixes, Ganguly battered the Sri Lankan bowling lineup comprising of Muttiah Muralidharan, Chaminda Vaas and co.
Well accompanied by Rahul Dravid at the other end who managed to score an impressive 145, Ganguly orchestrated India's attack. This till date remains the highest score by an Indian at the World Cup. Though India failed to progress through the super 6 stage, Ganguly's exuberant knock will be remembered for a long, long time.
This remains Sourav Ganguly's highest ODI score and was rightly named as the man of the match in Taunton.