In pics: Sourav Ganguly's journey from cricketer to BCCI president

'Maharaj' as he was fondly called, became a cricket administrator in 2009 and is currently the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)

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Young Ganguly, while studying in tenth standard, was enrolled in a cricket coaching camp where his batting talent was acknowledged. His elder brother Snehashish, who was also a cricketer, introduced him to the world of cricket. However, it was only after he scored a century against the Orissa Under-15 side, he was made captain of St Xavier’s School’s cricket team and kick start his journey as an aspiring cricketer.

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In 1992, he scored a total of 3 runs on his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against the West Indies. As a result, he was dropped immediately for his attitude towards the game, perceived to be quite unprofessional.

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Despite the initial setback, he toiled hard in the domestic circuit, scoring heavily in 1993-94 and 1994-95 Ranji seasons, which led to his comeback in the national team on the England tour in 1996.

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Ganguly had a dream Test debut when he scored a hundred in his first innings at Lord's. He followed it up with another hundred in his second innings in the next Test match thus becoming only the third batsman to score two hundreds in the first two outings.

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In 1997, Ganguly scored his maiden ODI century against Sri Lanka. Later in the year, Ganguly won 4 consecutive 'Man of the Match' awards for his performance against Pakistan in Sahara Cup in Toronto.

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In 2000, Ganguly was named as the captain of the Indian cricket team, after Tendulkar stepped down from the position, for his health. Ganguly's captaincy is credited with turning Indian cricket around.

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India reached the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2003 in South Africa under Ganguly's captaincy and lost to Australia. Ganguly's captaincy became famous for its aggressive tenor, for backing young players like Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. Even Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his debut under Ganguly's captaincy.

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In October 2005, Ganguly was again dropped from the team, following his dispute with the former coach Greg Chappel. He made a successful comeback however and retired in 2008 after a Test series with Australia.

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In 2016, he was appointed as one of the four members of IPL’s governing council and also a member of the technical committee. He is now set to be the first former Test cricketer to become the BCCI president.

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