Records held by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly was a very influential figure in Indian cricket history, a captain and a player who changed the perception of Indian cricket and cricketers abroad.
He took over the captaincy reigns in 2000 when the Indian team were going through a difficult time in their cricket history, with match-fixing allegations labeled against some of its players and a downward spiral in the team’s performances.
Ganguly’s captaincy helped the team overcome these difficult times, and made them a force to be reckoned with in international cricket.
Another key aspect of Ganguly’s reign at the top of Indian cricket was that he made the Indian team a tougher unit and helped changed the image of “meek Indian cricketer” into a “fighting, no-nonsense” one. Under him, India improved their overseas record by winning more Test matches and series on foreign soil.
Apart from being a great captain, Ganguly was a world-class batsman as well. He was termed by his teammate Rahul Dravid as “next to God on the off-side”, and was one of the biggest match winners in ODI cricket in the early 2000s.
Let us have a look at his feats and records in both the Tests as well as the ODIs.
Test records
Captaincy record
Sourav Ganguly has been one of the most successful Indian Test captains ever. In the 49 matches he was captain, India won 21 and lost only 13. It was the all-time captaincy record for India before MS Dhoni overtook Ganguly as the most successful Test skipper.
If you look at his overseas captaincy record, it is good also. He has captained India in 28 overseas Tests, of which we won 11 and lost 10. It is the highest win-loss ratio in overseas Tests for any Indian captain in history. This record though is slightly bolstered by four Test wins in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, both weak sides.
| Spell | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | Win % |
| 2000-2005 | 49 | 21 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 42.85 |
Batting record
As a batsman too, he was very effective in Test cricket. His Test batting average never went below 40, and at his peak, he was a world class player. Ganguly is the seventh Indian player to play 100 Test matches.
At times, Ganguly’s weaknesses against the short ball were exposed by teams like Australia, England and South Africa, however Ganguly managed to fight back and found his own way to deal with the short stuff and survive.
Ganguly also made a great comeback to the Test team in 2007 after being dropped in 2006. He amassed 1106 Test runs at an average of 61.44 (with three centuries and four fifties) in 2007 to become the second highest run-scorer in Test matches of that year after Jacques Kallis.
| Spell | Matches | Innings | Not outs | Runs | High Score | Average | 100’s | 50’s | 0’s |
| 1996-2008 | 113 | 188 | 17 | 7212 | 239 | 42.17 | 16 | 35 | 13 |
ODI records
Captaincy Record
Captaining India from 1999-2005, Ganguly had a very decent ODI record as captain although it could have been a lot better considering the talent that was in the Indians squad at the time. He has won 76, lost 66 and had 5 no results out of 147 matches, giving him a win percentage of 53.52 percent.
His biggest achievement with the Indian team was when he led them to the 2003 World Cup final, where they would eventually be thrashed by Australia.
| Spell | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | N/R | Win % |
| 1999-2005 | 147 | 76 | 66 | 0 | 5 | 53.52 |
Batting Record
Very early in his ODI career in 1997, Ganguly created a world record by winning four consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards against Pakistan in Toronto. It is still a world record 18 years since.
It was in the ODI format that Ganguly really came into his own as a batsman and dominated many bowling attacks. At his peak, he was a dangerous batsman at the top of the order, who could tear apart any bowling line-up on his day.
His trademark waltz down the track to take on fast bowlers was a thing of beauty. His timing on the off side was second to none, and he could tear apart left arm spin bowling at will.
Ganguly was the highest run scorer in ODI cricket in the world in 1997, 1999 and 2000. At that time, he was at the peak of his powers as an ODI batsman.
Ganguly used to hit a lot of sixes too, meeting the ball halfway down the track to dispatch both fast bowlers and spinners. He is currently placed sixth on the list of maximum number of sixes hit in ODI cricket with 190 sixes, although Mahendra Singh Dhoni (188*) and AB de Villiers (170*) are hot on his heels.
‘Dada’ also holds the record for the maximum number of double century partnerships (6) in ODI cricket, a record he shares with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.
He is the proud holder of a mind-boggling 30 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODI cricket, which is sixth in the all-time list.
Ganguly has 22 centuries in ODI cricket and is placed sixth in the list of highest century scorers in ODI cricket. Only Tendulkar, Ponting, Kumara Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and most recently Virat Kohli are above him in this list while Dilshan, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers are currently level with the former Indian batsman.
| Spell | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average | 100’s | Sixes |
| 1992-2007 | 311 | 11363 | 183 | 41.02 | 22 | 190 |
An inspiration to the future generation
Ganguly remains a huge inspiration to the young generation of Indian cricketers, who want to make a mark in the game. His contribution to Indian cricket has been immense, and has been acknowledged by both his teammates and other cricketers. Some people even see a reflection of his aggression and attitude in Virat Kohli’s captaincy.
His legacy will be an integral part of Indian cricket in the years and decades to come.
*Updated as of October 23 2015