Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (born 8 July 1972) is a former Indian cricketer and cricket administrator who served as the 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2019 to 2022. Known as the "Prince of Calcutta" and "Dada," Ganguly is credited with transforming Indian cricket from a timid, reactive team into an aggressive, confident force that could compete anywhere in the world. Born into a wealthy family in Kolkata, Ganguly initially struggled to establish himself in international cricket. After a poor start that saw him dropped from the team, he fought his way back and became one of India's most prolific left-handed batsmen, scoring over 11,000 runs in ODIs and over 7,000 in Tests. Ganguly's greatest contribution was as captain of the Indian cricket team (2000-2005). He took over the captaincy during the match-fixing scandal that had devastated Indian cricket and rebuilt the team with fearless young players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan. Under his aggressive captaincy, India won Test matches overseas for the first time in decades, including famous victories in Australia, England, and the West Indies. He led India to the final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup. As BCCI President (2019-2022), Ganguly oversaw major reforms in Indian cricket administration and was instrumental in the development of women's cricket and domestic cricket. He was also instrumental in India's successful hosting of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.