Former India captain Sourav Ganguly to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame

Mumbai: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is to be inducted into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame on July 11, TOI has learnt.Ganguly will thus join the elite list of Indian cricketers to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Other ICC Hall of Famers from India include MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Vinoo Mankad, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishen Singh Bedi and former Indian women’s captain Diana Edulji.Incidentally, on Wednesday (July 8), when Ganguly coincidentally celebrated his 54th birthday, the makers of Ganguly’s biopic ‘Dada’ unveiled the first look of the film featuring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role. The scene shows Rao twirling his jersey in jubilant celebration after India won the 2002 NatWest Series final against England at Lord’s. A shirtless Ganguly waving the Indian jersey before running onto the field remains one of the most iconic moments of Indian cricket.Minutes after the poster was unveiled, Ganguly shared it on his social media and reacted to RajKummar Rao’s look. Calling it the “best gift ever,” he wrote, “Best gift ever! Can’t wait for you to play my cover drive! @rajkummar_rao.”Famous former Indian captain and cricketer Ganguly, who became the president of BCCI and is currently the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, scored 7212 runs in 113 Tests, including 16 centuries and 11363 runs in 311 ODIs, with 22 centuries, while also taking 132 wickets with his useful middle wickets. Ganguly remains one of the best runs in ODI cricket. A force in one-day cricket, he formed a very successful opening pair with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.Known as the ‘God of the Offside’ for his ability to break through the offside field with his breathtaking cover drives, Ganguly was widely known as one of India’s greatest and most graceful batsmen and captains, even making the great former Australian captain Steve Waugh bowl during the iconic 2001 Test series!When he took over as India captain in 2000, the Indian team was emerging from a dark, dismal match-fixing phase, perhaps the worst in its history. However, Ganguly, celebrated for his aggressive tactics, put together a bunch of top cricketers like Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, inspired India to victory in overseas Tests. Under Ganguly’s leadership, India were joint winners of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002, reached the final of the ODI World Cup in South Africa in 2003, leveled the Test series in England, won the historic Test series in Pakistan in 2004 and ended Australia’s 16-match winning streak in Kolkata in one of the greatest comebacks in Test history.