#HappyBirthdayDada: Sourav Ganguly, the Maharaj of Indian cricket, turns 48

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly turned 48 on Wednesday. Wishes poured in from all around Twitter for 'Dada', as Sourav Ganguly is affectionately known as, one of the finest players and captains in world cricket.

Currently, Ganguly serves as the 39th president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the national governing body for cricket in India. Before being elected to the post, he served as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal, the governing body of cricket in West Bengal.

Ganguly, nicknamed the 'God of the Off Side', is regarded as one of the greatest captains in world cricket who established himself as a remarkable prolific batsman on the offside, executing elegant stroke play square of the wicket and through the covers.

In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he was involved in a partnership of 318 runs with Rahul Dravid, which remains the highest overall partnership score in the World Cup tournament history.

"On the offside, first there is God, then Sourav Ganguly!", said Rahul Dravid once. 

Ganguly's captaincy may have overshadowed his credentials as a batsman, but he was really a magician with the bat. Whether he was cutting pacers through the off-side or dancing down the track to leg-spinners, Ganguly was a treat to watch. 

The Prince of Kolkata announced his Test arrival in style at the Mecca of cricket as he scored a century at Lord’s in his debut. Ganguly would go on to become the third-highest run-scorer for India with 18,575 international runs. He is the 12th highest run-scorer of all time in international cricket history. He is the only ODI player to have won four consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards. Notably, his average never dipped below 40 in Test cricket.

Ganguly's rise came at the lowest time for Indian cricket. The match-fixing scandal had just come to the fore. Ganguly took the reins of the Indian team and restored the faith and love for the game as well as the players. 

Years later, Ganguly himself was at the lowest point in his career in 2005 after the fall-out with the then coach Greg Chappell. He was axed from the side. But Ganguly bounced back again and made a comeback to the Indian team. In 2007, he made 1,000+ runs in ODIs and Tests respectively, and was the leading run-scorer (2,346) overall in the calendar year. He was the 'Asian Cricketer' and the 'Asian Batsman of the Year' next year. He finally hung up his boots on his own terms in 2008/09. 

One of the greatest wins under Dada's leadership was against Australia in the famous 2001 series where India managed to upset one of the greatest test teams of all time to win 2-1. In the ODI series, India lost 2-3, however, Sourav Ganguly keeping then Aussie captain Steve Waugh waiting for toss became the stuff of the legends. It was painted one of the great stories of defiance, of India boldly standing up against Australia, who was widely known as a bully in world cricket at that time. 

Sourav Ganguly later in an interview said that he had done it intentionally, to take revenge for the way then Aussie coach Buchanan had spoken to Indian pacer Javagal Srinath. Steve Waugh in his autobiography 'Out of my comfort zone' had alleged that Sourav Ganguly came late seven times for toss in that series. According to Sourav, in the subsequent away series in Australia, Waugh had asked him to come in time and he snapped back at the Aussie captain saying, "If you behave, I will".

However, whatever may be the real reason, all these stories have just added to the legend of Dada, which has continued to endure in the minds and hearts of Indian cricket lovers long after he has retired from international cricket.

Ganguly is also responsible for giving Indian cricket a plethora of future stars like – Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, and MS Dhoni who went on to make it big at the international arena.

There is no bigger polariser in Indian cricket than Sourav Ganguly. His fans may consider him the 'Royal Bengal Tiger' who changed the face of Indian cricket, but there is no dearth of his detractors. He is often criticised for being a selfish batsman. Some have called him uncourteous, stubborn, and arrogant as well. He was surely not the most athletic of players Indians have produced. 

However, love him or hate him, you can't imagine Indian cricket without him.