Sourav Ganguly was born on July 8, 1973 into a sports-loving family. Despite being naturally right-handed, he learned to bat left-handed from his brother. He pursued cricket against his parents' wishes and replaced his brother on the Bengal cricket team. Ganguly made his international debut in 1992 but struggled initially. After being dropped, he returned in 1996 and had a brilliant Test debut at Lord's. As captain from 1999-2005, Ganguly led India to several memorable wins and helped establish them as a top international team. Though his form later declined, he continued performing well through adjustments and remained a fighter for his team. On his birthday, he is celebrated for his service to Indian cricket and society

1. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
Born into a sports loving family of Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly,on July 08,
1973 Sourav was nicknamed "Maharaj" or "The Emperor" probably since his
parents felt he will be a leader some day.
Though Sourav is a natural right hander, he learned to bat with his left hand
from his elder brother, Snehashish just because he couldnot find a pair of right
handed gloves for himself.
Going against his parents wish to make cricket as his career and with strong
support from his elder brother Snehashish, he started the journey by enrolling
in a cricket coaching camp during his class 10 holidays and eventually he
replaced his elder brother in the bengal cricket team.

2. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
Sourav made his international debut in 1992 against west indies, but failed to
make an impression. He was not given any further chance and was dropped
after this tour. Rumors of his attitude problems and lack of respect for the
senior players hurt Sourav the most.
After 4 years in oblivion, he was again called back for test series against
england in 1996. He made a scintillating test debut with a brilliant 131 at Lords
and became a regular member of test and odi side.

3. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
He along with his batting peers like Sachin, Dravid started winning matches on
a regular basis. Sachin and Sourav started to become the prolific opening duo
in odi cricket

4. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
The real honour came in 1999 when Sourav became the indian captain in both
odi and tests. Under his able leadership India went on to win some memorable
matches against opponents like australia, south africa, west indies, england,
pakistan, sri lanka to name a few. He became the second indian to play the
finals of world cup but couldnot repeat history made in 1983. He earned the
name "dada" from his team mates as he was like an elder brother to them

5. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
When all seems to go well for team india, his batting form started to slump.
India's performance also degraded during the period 2004-2005. Subsequently
he lost his captaincy and his place in the team.

6. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
He went back to domestic cricket circuit, made some few adjustments in the
batting side and came back after one year as a much better batsman and
played like he never played before. The first test victory against south africa in
their land was much attributed to sourav's gutsy 51*. He made a comeback in
odi with a man-of-the-series performance against srilanka and west indies.
The indian team failed to perform in world cup 2007 but sourav was one
batsman who never let his wicket go without putting up a fight. Post worldcup
memories include his brilliant maident test century in his favourite ground eden
which has eluded him till date and then followed by a scintillating double
century against a charged pakistan attack when india were 60/4 in bangalore.

7. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
Sourav reached another milestone by playing his hundredth test against
austrlalia in melbourne and was the 4th indian cricketer to do so. He also led
the batting line up against a dangerous south african bowling attack on a docile
pitch and scored a magnificent 87.
Sourav also led the Kolkata Knight Riders franchisee in the inaugural IPL T20
tournament and played some match winning innings with terrific strike rate in
batting and bowling when most of the critics ruled him out owing to his growing
age and fitness.

8. Sourav Ganguly – A tribute
Currently out of the indian odi team he is waiting for a recall there and as dada
fans we all hope for another miracle to happen. This person has shown us how
to fight back against all odds and to held head high when the chins are
supposed to be down. On this occasion of the birthday of this man, we salute
him for his service to indian society and cricket and wish him success in years
to come.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOURAV "DADA"
GANGULY