‘Happy Birthday the original Prince’ – Fans shower wishes on Sourav Ganguly’s 51st birthday on July 8

India have produced many great cricketers who have given their everything to make their team win. Many legendary cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar have played for India and become inspirations for many other aspiring cricketers all around the world. India have also produced many great captains who have led the team to new milestones.

Meanwhile, one of those great captains of the Indian team, Sourav Ganguly celebrated his 51st birthday on Saturday, July 8. Ganguly, who also served as the president of the Indian Cricket Board was popular for his aggressive and combative approach as a leader which transformed the face of Indian cricket completely. Many fans have wished Ganguly, popularly known as ‘Dada’, on social media.

Ganguly gained recognition as one of India’s all-time best batters. In 113 Test matches, he amassed 7212 runs at an average of 42.17, including 16 hundreds. Ganguly participated in 311 ODI matches and amassed 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 which included 22 centuries. The highest partnership total in ODI cricket history is still the 8227 runs he scored alongside former legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar.

Sourav Ganguly’s influence on Indian cricket

However, Ganguly faced a lot of criticism when the Indian team suffered an embarrassing 125-run loss to Australia in the 2003 ODI World Cup final. Many cricket fans and experts asked and forced Ganguly to leave the captaincy. It is impossible to ignore Ganguly’s influence on Indian cricket, both as a player and a captain. Nevertheless, his career was a tapestry filled with brilliant, contentious, and transformative events.

He was also involved in some internal disputes as after a disagreement with the team’s then-head coach Greg Chappell, Ganguly’s tenure as captain came to an end. He finally returned to the Indian team, though, and in 2008 he announced his retirement from international cricket. Before ultimately retiring from all forms of cricket in 2012, Ganguly also served as the captain of the IPL teams Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/abhaysrivastavv/status/1677385605641310209?s=20

https://twitter.com/SinghofRJ/status/1677384956342050816?s=20