Sourav Ganguly, fondly referred as the ‘Prince of Kolkata’, was handed his maiden call-up to the Indian team on the 1991-92 tour of Australia. He was handed his India debut in the B&H World Series ODI against West Indies at Brisbane on 11 January 1992. But after a painful and unconvincing 13-ball 3 in his debut ODI, he was banished back to grind of domestic cricket.
The left-hander received a second lease of life when he was named in the Indian squad for the tour of England in 1996, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Sourav Ganguly – who celebrates his 48th birthday today – announced himself in splendid fashion on 22 June 1996.
The left-hander scored a fluent century at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in his first Test match. Courtesy that start, he would go on to become a permanent fixture in Indian teams for the best part of the next eleven years.
By the time he announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008, Ganguly had scored more than 18,000 international runs and had 38 international centuries to his name.
(With inputs from Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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