Sourav Ganguly - The Prince of Calcutta

One of Indian Cricket's finest gems, Sourav Ganguly. From historically being pushovers, under his leadership, the Indian Team transformed into the ruthless winning machine it is today.

Iconic; Image Source: News18

Virat Kohli today is seen as a brash, aggressive captain who has instilled an attitude in the team that some people find "a bit too much to handle". Before Kohli and co, however, came Sourav Ganguly and the golden generation.

Ganguly wasn't fondly known as Dada for no good reason. It literally meant "big brother" and he was one to many; but it also represented his attitude on the cricket field which was akin to a bully on the school ground. Nobody knows that better than Andrew Flintoff.

Born to Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly, Sourav's early life was spent in opulence and wealth. His father ran a successful print business and was one of the wealthiest people in Calcutta.

The rich footballing heritage of Bengal made him fall in love with football, but like in all great love stories, his parents came in the way. They pushed him to do better in academics and in the pages of his school books, football got lost.

His brother, a cricketer in the Bengal Cricket Team, encouraged him to take up cricket and convinced his parents to enrol him in a cricket academy. Reluctantly, Chandidas and Nirupa gave way.

Little Sourav was naturally right-handed but in order to use his brother's cricketing gear, moulded himself into a left-handed batsman.

The year his brother was dropped from the Bengal's team, Sourav was drafted in. His rise through the ranks was quick but he had to toil hard to move beyond the Ranji level. His international debut cap was handed to him in 1990, but attitude issues (which he later denied) towards his teammates and the game saw him being dropped immediately after.

6 years later, his opportunity finally came at the iconic Lords and he grabbed it with both hands- Ganguly became the third cricketer to score a century on debut at Lords.

He replicated his form in others forms of the game and with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, became part of one of the greatest batting trinities cricket has ever seen. At the brink of the new century, he was handed over the captaincy.

His attitude brushed over the rest of the team. Even though his approach often came under the spotlight, nobody could deny that the team had transitioned from a bunch that would crumble under the slightest of pressure to a group that gave it their all even with their backs against the wall.

What better example than the finals of the 2002 Natwest Tri-Series. Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, two youngsters combined to chase down a target of 325 runs from a dismal position of 5 down for just 146 runs.

As Zaheer Khan and Kaif took the winning run, off came Ganguly's shirt on the Lords' balcony and became immortalised as one of Indian Cricket's greatest photos ever. He was mimicking Andrew Flintoff, who had taken his shirt-off when England drew level with India in a previous tour.

The next year, under his leadership India reached the final of the World Cup only to be demolished by Punter's magical innings. Failure to win a World Cup with one of the most terrifying line-ups remains the only blotch on his otherwise illustrious career. For the next few years, he remained in and out of the team and finally, he announced retirement in 2008 after a test series in Australia.

After the end of his cricketing career, Ganguly's love for the sport dragged him into administration. After having served as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal from 2015-2019, he was appointed the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the apex body of control.

The foundation of the fearless Indian team wasn't laid by Kohli or Dhoni but by Dada, The Prince of Calcutta, Sourav Ganguly. His imprint on Indian Cricket continues to live through in ways more than one.

Every young aspiring cricketer who watches a repeat telecast of the 2002 Finals of the Natwest Tri-Series in front of their TV screens are moulded and shaped by that one scene where Ganguly is swaying his shirt wildly; in open defiance of the caricature of the weak, feeble and mild-mannered Indian cricketer, in open defiance of the Gentlemen's Game and in open defiance of his god-like status. Unlike god, Dada was flawed and his acceptance of his flaws in open defiance of a society that commands us to mask them was precisely what made him special.