New Delhi: Sourav Ganguly has led the Indian team to several historic victories. He took the charge of the Indian team when Sachin Tendulkar resigned as the captain in early 2000. It was a tough time for cricket all over the world as the Hansie Cronje fixing scandal along with other fixing scandals were being investigated.
Ganguly was a captain who built a team which could defeat their opponents in testing conditions of SENA countries, who gave chances to youngsters, who contributed with the bat, ball and strategising.
Take a look at 5 historic achievements for India under Sourav Ganguly:
1. 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy
KnockOut Trophy was a tournament held in Kenya to promote cricket in the country. Kapil Dev resigned as the coach of the Indian team just prior to the tournament, also India was missing players like Ajay Jadeja and Mohammad Azharuddin, all of this just because of the investigations of the fixing scandals. Players like Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh were making their debuts in the tournament.
India won the first game against Kenya comfortably. The team was facing Steve Waugh’s mighty Australia in the Quarter-finals. Young Yuvraj Singh stood up to the occasion and scored 84(80) to lead India into the Semi-finals. In the semis against South Africa, the Indian captain stood up to the occasion by scoring 141*(142) and taking a wicket for 5 runs. In the finals also Ganguly scored a century, but India lost against New Zealand.
It was the first ICC tournament for Sourav Ganguly the captain, and he led his team into the finals. This showed that Ganguly is here to fight against all the odds.
2. 2001 Border Gavaskar Trophy (Australia’s tour to India)
The series witnessed a historic victory when Ganguly’s Indian team established their position at the international level. After defeating India in the 1st test, Australia extended their unbeaten run to 16 games. In the 2nd test, held at Ganguly’s city Kolkata, Australia posted 445 runs in the first inning where Harbhajan Singh took 7 wickets. In reply, India got all out for 171 and a follow-on was forced.
The second inning saw VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid standing up to score 281 and 180 runs respectively. They posted a partnership of 372 to lead India to a total of 657/7 d. Australia got a target of 384, and they got all out for 212, all thanks to a 6-wicket haul by Harbhajan. India went on to win the 3rd test in Chennai where Harbhajan took 7 wickets in the first inning and 8 in the second.
3. 2002 Natwest Series Final
The stage was set with the Natwest series final at Lord’s. England batted first and posted a huge total of 325, as Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain scored a century each. India started well with Ganguly and Sehwag posting a 106-runs opening stand. Ganguly scored 60 in just 43 balls. After the Indian captain got out, the batting order collapsed as India went from 106/1 to 146/5.
It was again Dada’s youngsters who stood up to the occasion. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif posted a partnership of 121 runs which eased down the chase. Kaif finished the game and ended up scoring 87*(75).
As India scored the winning runs, Ganguly removed his jersey and waved it at the Lord’s balcony. He was criticised for his actions but he made it clear that it was a reply to what England’s Andrew Flintoff did in Wankhede. Ganguly’s aggression and hunger for a win are what got passed on as his legacy.
4. 2003 ICC World Cup
India’s path to the 2003 World Cup final was full of victories, having faced just one loss against Australia. The loss against the Aussies was a humiliating one as India collapsed for 125/10 in its second game. Apart from that game, India had a dominating performance under Sourav Ganguly was playing his second World Cup and first as a captain.
India’s dominating victories included a 181 runs win against Namibia, winning against England by 82 runs, defeating Sri Lanka by a huge 183 runs margin and chasing easily against Pakistan and New Zealand. Sachin and Ganguly were the top 2 scorers in the tournament. Sachin scored 673 runs at an average of 61.18, whereas Ganguly scored 465 runs which included 3 centuries.
In the finals, however, India was outplayed by the Australian batters and had to settle for second place in the world cup. This was India’s second world cup finals and the first one came 20 years from then in 1983.
5. Adelaide Test (2003 Border Gavaskar Trophy)
It was the second test match on India’s tour to Australia and the hosts posted a huge total of 556 in the first inning. Ricky Ponting scored a humongous 242(352). India showed the grit they showed in 2001 and posted 523 runs. Rahul Dravid scored 233(446) and VVS Laxman scored 148(282) to fight back against the hosts.
In the second inning, Australia got all out for just 196 as Ajit Agarkar took 6 wickets. India chased down the 230 runs as Dravid scored 72*(170). Defeating Steve Waugh’s Australia at their home was a big achievement for the Indian side. Ganguly has led India to many such away-from-home victories.
