Sourav Ganguly's Records: The former India captain turns 53

There is a saying in cricket, "When life gives you a Greg Chappel, be a Sourav Ganguly". Well, that's a bit controversial line to start an article about Sourav Ganguly records.

But that was the life and career of Sourav Ganguly, who rose against every odd and came back like a "Maharaj" (King, people from Kolkata call him that) every time he was pushed down.

Now, the former India captain, who turned 53 today, made some significant moves on and off the field which changed Indian Cricket forever.

To mark his birth anniversary, we present to you a list of Sourav Ganguly's records that he achieved throughout his career.

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Sourav Ganguly's records in tests

Sourav Ganguly made his test debut in 1996 against England at Lords' Cricket Ground. At that time his selection was questioned. The pundits called him the "East-Zone quota". But a typical Sourav Ganguly made sure all the questions were answered with the bat in hand. 

Not to forget his mild-paced bowling. Let's take a look at Sourav Ganguly's records in tests.

1. 62nd batsman in test cricket history to score a 100 on test debut.
2. 6th test batsman to score centuries in the first two tests in his career.
3. Highest Test score by a left-handed Indian batsman (239).
4. Only test player to score a test century on debut and then score a zero in the last test innings.
5. Only player to average more than 40 throughout his test career and play more than 100 test matches.

Read Also: Cricket records: Most test matches as an umpire

Sourav Ganguly's records in ODIs

Though Ganguly was India's one of the best in the longest format, it was the white ball that he dominated more than anyone. Even more than Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. 

Sourav Ganguly scored more white-ball runs than any other player during his time. Here are some of Sourav Ganguly's records in ODIs-

1. He was the fastest man to reach 6000, 7000, 8000, and 9000 ODI runs while playing.
2. Ganguly is the only cricketer to win four consecutive Man of the Match awards in One Day Internationals.
3. Highest individual score by any batsman in an ICC Champions Trophy final (117).
4. Sourav Ganguly was also the first player to hit 3 centuries in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy.
5. Highest individual score in the ICC World Cup by any Indian player (183).
6. He is also the third fastest to score 10000 ODI runs (263 ing).
7. Most ODI runs by any left-handed Indian player (11363)
8. Second most ODI runs in a single calendar year (1767 runs in 1999).
9. The second-most ODI hundreds in a single calendar year (7 ODI tons in 2000).
10. One of the five cricketers to have achieved the unique treble. Ganguly has scored more than 10,000 runs, and taken more than 100 wickets & 100 catches in ODI cricket.
11. Third-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket among Indians and ninth overall.
12. Sourav Ganguly also has the record of scoring the second-most tons by an Indian batsman in a single World Cup. ( 3 centuries in 2003)
13. 10th most hundreds in ODI cricket (22).

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Sourav Ganguly's records as captain

Sourav Ganguly is sometimes called the "accidental captain". He had never captained any team before being the captain of the Indian Cricket team.

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He took over the captaincy post during a tough time of the "Azhar Saga". But as Kapil Dev said, that was the moment Indian cricket's future was made. Here are some of the records Sourav Ganguly made as a captain-

1. Till retirement, Sourav Ganguly had the most successful India captain in away tests (11 wins). Virat Kohli later went past him.
2. Third most successful ODI captain among Indians (76 wins )
3. Ganguly is the only Indian skipper to win a Test series in Pakistan.
4. He took the captaincy when India was ranked 8 in Test rankings, and left India second-ranked in Test cricket, still a record for the biggest jump.
5. 8th most matches as captain in ODI history (146)

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"Giving that Indian team a lot of steel, self-belief, character. Forget about winning at home. I think all sides are comfortable winning at home. But it's about going outside in Test conditions that you are not familiar with against the best in the world and having that fire, hunger and belief to win. And I think that's where Dada made the biggest difference to Indian cricket."

Kumar Sangakkara on Sourav Ganguly as captain