Timeline of his Career
Januray 11, 1992Inauspicious debutMakes his ODI debut, his only international on the tour to Australia. Scores three runs and is duly dropped. His highest score on the tour is 29, against Queensland.
June 21 and 22, 1996Test debut is different
On Test debut, at Lord's, scores an imperious century. Follows it up with another century in the very next Test at Nottingham, on July 4.
October 23, 1996Quite a sighterIn his 11th one-dayer, in Jaipur, opens the innings for the first time, against South Africa. This is the first time the greatest opening combination in ODI history, him and Sachin Tendulkar, comes together. He scores 54, Tendulkar 64, in a 126-run stand.
August 20, 1997Has a ball in Sri LankaPlaying against Sri Lanka, scores his first ODI century, in his 32nd match, in Colombo. This innings follows a 147 in the second Test, an innings instrumental in drawing the Test.
September, 1997
If it's Toronto, it has to be GangulyHigh point of his career. Is the leading scorer and wicket-taker in the Sahara Cup. With 222 runs at 55.5 and 15 wickets at 10.66, he wins four Man-of-the-Match awards in five matches, and is the most unanimous Man of the Series, as India beat Pakistan 4-1.
November-December, 1997
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 2With 392 runs at 98 per innings, ends the three-Test home series against Sri Lanka as top-scorer and Man of the Series.
January 18, 1998Setting up a famous chaseScores 124 against Pakistan in the then highest successful run-chase in ODI history, as India score 316 in 47.5 overs to win the Independence Cup in Dhaka.
July 7, 1998
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 3Scores 109 against Sri Lanka in Colombo, in the then biggest opening stand. He and Tendulkar (128) put together 252 runs as India win the Nidahas Trophy final by six runs.
May 26, 1999
Whipping Sri Lanka, round 4A day when he, in partnership, looks like breaking every batting record in the book. His 183 in Taunton is the then highest ODI score by an Indian; the 318-run partnership with Rahul Dravid (145) is the then highest partnership ever; and India's 373 for 6 is the then second-largest ODI total.
September, 1999
Captaincy calibreCaptains India for the first time in the Coca-Cola Singapore Challenge tournament, against West Indies, as Tendulkar is rested due to a sore back. Barely a week later, he leads India again in the Toronto Cricket Festival - with Tendulkar skipping the tournament due to an injury - against West Indies. India win the series 2-1.
February, 2000
County callingSigns up to replace Muttiah Muralitharan as Lancashire's overseas cricketer.
February 26, 2000
Tendulkar resigns, Ganguly obligesIs named captain of the Indian team for the five-ODI home series against South Africa. The announcement comes after Tendulkar has resigned from captaincy. At the prime of his one-day form, he ends the series as top run-getter, but India lose a closely fought series. Is named full-time captain after the series.
March 21, 2001
Final frontier remainsEnd of one month of most enthralling Test cricket. Ganguly is the leading face of a brash, aggressive Indian team who come back from an impossible situation to beat Australia 2-1. Is vindicated as a captain.
November, 2001
Tête-à -tête with match-refereeIn an unprecedented and highly controversial action, Ganguly and five other Indian players are summoned by Mike Denness, the match-referee, and warned for excessive appealing during the Port Elizabeth Test. He is also accused of not controlling his players, and is
punished with a suspended ban for one Test match and two one-day international matches. India lose the three-Test series 2-0, and the third is deemed unofficial by the ICC amid threats of a revolt by India and the BCCI.
July 13, 2002Paying them in the same currencyIs seen waving his shirt emphatically at the Lord's balcony as an incredible win in the Natwest Trophy final caps off impressive back-to-back tours of West Indies and England. India had lost their last nine finals in a row, six under Ganguly. He scores a century in the Test series that follows. India draw the series 1-1.
March 20, 2003Promised landScores a century in the World Cup semi-final as India make it to the finals for the first time since 1983.
December 7, 2003
Leading from the frontAt Brisbane, scores a brilliant counter-attacking century in a tricky situation to set up the tone for Indian batsmen on the Australian tour.
April 16, 2004Neighbours won overBecomes the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Pakistan. Also with 15 Test wins, he becomes India's most successful captain. India have won the five-ODI series too by a margin of 3-2.
October 10, 2004
Beginning of the false endIndia lose the first Test against Australia at Bangalore by 217 runs. He struggles both as a batsman and as a
captain, and his withdrawal from the last two Tests due to injury leads to much media speculation and controversy.
March 28, 2005
Decline continuesThe signs of his decline are obvious after a dismal showing in a drawn series at home against Pakistan. Pakistan side triumphs in the decider at Bangalore, virtually signalling the end of the successful Ganguly-Wright relationship. Ganguly scores 48 runs in the series, at 9.60.
April 12, 2005
Bad gets worseAfter the fourth ODI against Pakistan, with the six-match ODI series tied 2-2, he is banned for six matches for a slow-over rate and has to watch from the sidelines as India go down 2-4 to Pakistan.
September 15, 2005
After hundred, comes nadirA slow hundred against a depleted Zimbabwe sends the critics into raptures, only for the controversial Ganguly-Greg Chappell saga to blow up in everyone's faces. Ganguly goes public with his dismay at Chappell's suggestions during the match that he step down from the captaincy, and the media goes wild. Chappell is not amused, maintaining that the Indian captain asked him for his honest opinion on his form and leadership in a private meeting between the two. The tour goes on, with India unsurprisingly beating Zimbabwe 2-0. On the team's return to India Ganguly is publicly ostracised and there are more and more
calls for his sacking. Forty-eight hours after saying that he respected the Indian captain and looked forward to working with him in the future, Chappell fires off a damning memorandum to the BCCI.
October 21, 2005
Refusal to dieHits a century in the Duleep Trophy match against a strong North Zone attack to remind the world that he is not done yet.
November 22, 2005Passes the thorny batonThe selectors end his five-year reign as Test captain when they pick Rahul Dravid to lead India in the Tests against Sri Lanka.
January to March, 2006
UninvitedIs picked for the Test series in Pakistan. Does not bat in the first Test, is dropped for the second, and scores 34 and 37 in the
third in Karachi. His performance isn't enough to secure a spot in the one-day series that followed. Is not picked for the home Tests against England.
December 7, 2006
Beginning of the end of the endIndia are doing miserably in South Africa, having lost all the one-dayers. Ganguly is picked for the Tests. India are 1 for 2, 37 for 3, 59 for 4 against Rest of South Africa in Potchefstroom. Ganguly comes in and scores 83, India win, and take momentum into the Test series.
December 15, 2006
Riposte continuesScores a half-century with the tail in the Johannesburg Test, as India reach a crucial 249 and bowl South Africa out for 84. They go on to win by 123 runs, but lose in the final Test to squander an opportunity for a rare series win. Ganguly is the top-scorer for India.
January 21, 2007
ODIs, here I come, againIn Nagpur, on his ODI comeback, scores 98 against West Indies. India go on to score 338 and win by 14 runs.
May 18-19, 2007
I have been expecting you, Mr Test tonScores an even 100 in Chittagong, his third century is three-and-a-half years. His last two centuries are Bulawayo, 2005 and Brisbane, 2003.
July-August, 2007Feels like home in England
Scores 249 runs at 49.80 in India's series win in England, and has secured his place in both Test and ODI sides.
November-December, 2007E-done and double delightScores his first Test century at Eden Garden, follows it up with his first double-century, at Bangalore. Pakistan are at the receiving end, as he top-scores with 534 runs in three Tests at an average of 89, and is the Man of the Series.
December 2007-January 2008Beginning of another false end?A mixed Test series in Australia (235 runs at 29.37, two half-centuries) is followed up by the ODI axe for the CB Series in Australia.
April 12, 2008
Mastering the Mean StreetOn an underprepared, dual-bounced pitch, scores a serene 87 to help India level the three-Test series against South Africa. Later calls it one of his best Test innings.
Most Best Performances......
131 v England, Lord's, 1996It has been a month since he last played an international, and four-and-a-half years since he played one before that. Those are also his only two to date. His selection is already the most controversial aspect on the tour - allegedly a work of quota system. After India have squandered the initiative and let England score 344 after having them down at 107 for 5, a familiar story looks in the offing. On a chilly third morning, Ganguly is imperious through the off side, driving both through the covers and behind point. He pulls the short ones capably and hits 20 boundaries in what seems an inevitable century.
Sahara Cup v Pakistan, Toronto, 1997
The kits are still white, the ball is still swinging, and India-Pakistan clashes are still rare. In his 34 ODIs till date, Ganguly has scored only one century and taken only one wicket. The wickets here are to his immense liking; he bowls accurately, getting just enough movement at just about the right pace, taking a wicket every 20 balls, and for 10 runs each. He is winning matches with the bat too, the most significant being the run-a-ball 75 as India successfully chase 160 in 26 overs. He ends up the best batsman and the best bowler in both the sides. He is the Man of the Match in the first match of the next year's Sahara Cup too.
124 v Pakistan, Independence Cup final, Dhaka, 1997-98A target
of over 300 has been chased successfully only once in the past. India are chasing 315 against Pakistan, in the third of the best-of-three finals. Sachin Tendulkar gets off to a blazing start, but gets out for 41. Robin Singh scores a run-a-ball 80 too, but it's Ganguly who holds the innings together with a well-paced 124. When he gets out, India are close enough, but go on to make a mess before finally winning in dramatic fashion.
183 v Sri Lanka, Taunton, 1999True wicket, short boundaries, put in and at one down in first over, Rahul Dravid joins Ganguly. After Dravid sets the pace, Ganguly goes on to make it his day. He moves from elegant to downright brutal, his century coming up in 119 balls, and the next 83 in only 39 balls.
153* and 1 for 33 v New Zealand, Gwalior, 1999-2000The next best scores are 45, 15, 15. It is a damp wicket and Indian top order, bar Ganguly has struggled. He hangs in, though, to find able support in Robin Singh, as they put on 119 in the last 11.3
overs. Ganguly is in supreme touch and with 18 fours and three sixes, scores about 59 per cent of the team runs in exactly half of the legal deliveries. For good measure, he bowls economically as first change after Nathan Astle has got stuck into Debasis Mohanty.
141 v Pakistan, Adelaide, 2000-01It's traditional rivals again, this time in the middle of a horrible Australian summer for both the teams. Pakistan, though, have improved during the one-dayers; India are yet to win their first international. On a true pitch, Ganguly rolls out his full repertoire of strokes. He puts on 88 in 15 overs with Tendulkar for the first wicket, 87 in 20 with Dravid for the second, and makes sure the good work is not squandered by staying there until the 49th over.
18 and 98* v Sri Lanka, Kandy, 2001India are never known for their fourth-innings batting. With Tendulkar not around, and on a fourth-day Kandy wicket, India have to chase 264. Ganguly's captaincy has already come in for severe criticism, but this time he needs badly to come good with the bat - he has not scored a fifty for the
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last 13 innings. He does come good, playing sensibly and in partnership with Dravid, negating the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan.
144 v Australia, Brisbane, 2003-04It wouldn't be unfair to say this is the test of Ganguly's manhood. His batting record as captain is not impressive, Australians have, as tradition is, gone after the captain. Amid talk of chin music and talks of trying to defend the batting order by opting to bowl first, Ganguly walks in at 62 for 3, last three having fallen for one run. What follows is a breathtaking counter-attack that sets the tone for the whole series. The off side is packed, waiting for what they think is an inevitable catch. Instead, Ganguly peppers the field with 87 runs through the off side, with 12 boundaries.
239 and 91 v Pakistan, Bangalore, 2007-08At 61 for 4, having fallen to early-morning freshness, India are threatening to yet again squander a lead in the Test-series decider. In comes Yuvraj Singh to join Ganguly, seemingly carrying a new wicket to bat on. For 65.2 overs and 300 runs,
Pakistan can only watch the two sprint away with the game. When Yuvraj gets out for 169, Ganguly is unbeaten on 124. He is no mood to give up yet, and goes on to score his first double century, and when he gets out with the team total at 605, the matter has been put beyond Pakistan. The obituaries, written for three years now and brushed up time and again, can safely be burnt.
87 v South Africa, Kanpur, 2007-08Looking to avoid an embarrassing series defeat, India get a track that starts cracking on the first day, spinning in the first session, and batting is extremely
difficult. Advantage Indian, right? Wrong. After South Africa have scored 265, their fast bowlers have made life hell for Indian batsmen. At 123 for 4, India look like they might lose on a track tailormade for them. Ganguly not only survives, but takes control of the rest of the innings, scoring 87 out of the 166 that are scored during his stay at the crease. Although his runs come in 119 deliveries, he never looks hurried, serene almost. His innings carries India past South Africa's total, and lays foundation for a face-saving Test win. He later calls this one of his best innings in Test cricket, and for good reason.
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