Sourav Ganguly is a known Indian cricket player who is also known by the nickname Dada and is currently in retirement.Today he is the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). His cricket nickname was „Bengal Tiger.“
Early life:
He was born as Sourav Chandidas Ganguly on July 8, 1972, in Behal in Calcutta, India. Sourav started playing cricket after his elder brother called Snehasish introduced him to this contagious sports. His started out playing it just to hang out with his brother, but it grew into a huge love of his later on.
His career started during his high school years when he began playing for his school team and later for the state team. He never knew that be would make it this far.
He is the youngest boy in the Ganguly family, and his parents are called Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. His father Chandidas was a very wealthy man and runs a print business. That made Ganguly’s childhood very easy since he was surrounded by luxury and all his childhood wishes always came true very fast after he wished them. He never had special ambitions in terms of getting a special job since he was ensured to live a happy life.
His childhood nickname was „Maharaja“ (it stands for „great Prince“). He was very close to his father who died in 2013 after being ill for a long time. His sons continued developing his business after he passed away. The death of his father was a hard time for Ganguly since he had to get used to a life without his role model.
Although football is the No.1. Sport in Calcutta and Sourav was very interested in it, at the end, he decided for cricket. His mother wasn’t supportive of his idea to get involved in sports and wanted for her son to become an academic or a scientist. Only his older brother Snehasish (who was already a cricketer) understood his brother’s dream of becoming a sportsman, so he persuaded their father to enroll Ganguly into a cricket camp during the summer. He was a tenth grader, and he fell in love with the game.
How big his love for cricket is was confirmed after he learned to play cricket with his brother’s left-handed equipment although he was right-handed himself. He knew parents wouldn’t buy him his equipment because they hoped that he would give up his dreams of becoming a cricket player.
He showed great skills as a batsman, so he was invited to join the cricket academy. His biggest role model was David Gower, an English cricketer from 1980’s who broke several records and is remembered as one of the biggest cricket players of all times.
Career development:
He became a captain of St Xavier’s School’s team which was a private day school founded by the Jesuits. This was a very big thing he was very proud of.
During that period he had problems with his teammates since he considered that many duties connected to the team were beneath his social status and he refused to do them. That brought dissatisfaction amongst his teammates. Nevertheless, he was a good player, so he debuted for the Bengal team in 1989. Incidentally, that was the same year his older brother left the Bengal team. There was a lot of controversy because of the way he treated his teammates so he would eventually start masking his attitude, but didn’t succeed since he always had to comment on things.
A few years later he was removed from the team since he was very „arrogant“ toward his teammates. It was his “legacy” as a rich kid, as he thought.
He returned to domestic cricket after that where he showed his talent, so he was asked to come back and join the National team in 1996 when the team had their England Tour.
He was very successful during this tour, breaking some records and becoming an Indian star. His country was very proud of him, and he became a popular star amongst the people.
He won „man of the match“ award four times in 1997.
In 2000, he became the Captain of the Indian cricket team, after being a vice-captain for a short time. He decided to take it slow from this moment on.
In many following matches, he caused controversy by not wearing his playing attire properly or arriving late for matches. He always made a show of some kind.
In 2002 Nat West Series he made controversy by taking off his shirt and tossing it in the air. It was considered as ruining a „gentleman’s game,“ and he was strongly condemned for this act.
He became India’s most successful captain in the following years.
The team won a lot of Tours in Australia and Pakistan.
In 2004 and 2005 his form started to drop so, he left the team in 2005.
He received a known civilian award in 2004, called „Padma Shri“ for his contribution to this sport.
In 2007 he made his comeback and won „Man of the Series“ Award at one game.
In 2008 he became the captain of Indian Premier League team called „Kolkata Knight Riders.“
In 2009 he quit his captaincy of the KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders).
He became the host of the reality show called „Dadagiri Unlimited.“
In 2012 he announced his retirement. He started commenting matches on television and became the President of the Cricket Association.
Personal life:
After the tour, in 1997, he secretly married Dona Ray, his childhood friend, and sweetheart, which made huge problems for both of their families since the families were longtime enemies for years. That is the reason why they did it secretly. At the end this act made the families reconcile, and their wedding was organized for the second time, with all the family attending.
His wife Dona gave birth to their daughter Sana in 2001. He claims that this was one of the most beautiful moments in his life, although he wasn’t by her side be as he was on the national team outside India at that time.
He even found out that his wife gave birth to a daughter before she did because she was unconscious for a few hours after the surgery. Today he says that he married the woman of his dreams who gave birth to a daughter of his dreams.
Sana is the name which they made up by playing with letters of their names: Sourav and Dona.
Many people claim that his child and his wife are the only ones bringing him back to earth.
In January 2016 Dona Ganguly managed to escape unhurt when a loaded truck hit the back side of her car near Behala Chowrasta. She was on her way to school to bring her lovely daughter home when her Mercedes Benz was caught in the accident.
She wasn’t injured, but the car is damaged. After that, she never complained about how Mercedes is a too long and too big car for her. The quality of this vehicle saves lives in traffic accidents.
The driver of the truck was arrested for his doings, and his truck was impounded.
Quick summary
Full name: Sourav Chandidas Ganguly
Date of birth: July 8, 1972
Birthplace: Behal in Calcutta, India.
Age: 45
Profession: former cricket player, commentator
Height: 1,80 m
Weight: 68 kgs
Net Worth: $50 million
