Sourav Ganguly

The leader who inspired India to greater heights, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, featured in 113 Tests and 311 ODIs. He was born on July 8, 1972, into one of the richest families in Kolkata. 

Ganguly made an entry into the cricket academy while studying at the tenth standard. After his impressive century against the Orissa U-15 side, the southpaw was chosen as the leader of St. Xavier's School. 

The talented batter made his domestic debut for Bengal in the 1989/90 season. The consistent round of performances earned him an ODI debut against West Indies in January 1992. However, he next featured in ODIs in 1996, scoring 46 against England. This knock paved the way for Ganguly's Test debut in June 1996 at Lord's, wherein he slammed 131 off 301 balls and gave a glimpse of his spectacular talent. He followed it up with another ton in the subsequent red-ball match. 

The knocks of 147, 109, 99 and 173 against Sri Lanka helped Ganguly to cement his place in the side. Later in the 1999 World Cup, Dada registered a 318-run stand with Rahul Dravid, scoring his highest ODI score of 183 against the Lankans. 

With the fixing scandal and Sachin Tendulkar's resignation, Sourav Ganguly was chosen as the leader of the Indian team. Under his leadership, the Men in Blue secured a famous Natwest 2022 series victory and emerged as the runner-up of the 2003 World Cup. 

However, the lousy form forced the selectors to drop Ganguly in the latter part of 2005. Nevertheless, with his impressive domestic run, the legendary batter returned and played a fighting knock of 51* to help India beat South Africa at Johannesburg in December 2006. 

Ganguly slammed his highest Test score of 239 against Pakistan in December 2007. His last appearance for India came in a red-ball game against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008. 

He amassed 7,212 runs and bagged 32 wickets in Tests, finishing it up with 11,363 runs and 100 scalps in ODIs. The charismatic leader captained India in 49 Tests and 146 ODIs. 

The God of Offside captained Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Pune Warriors India (PWI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Then, Ganguly served as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2019 to 2022. 

(As of February 2023)