Sourav Ganguly turns 45, Twitterati pay their respect to former Indian captain

New Delhi: Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly turned 45 on July 8 and Twitterati was out in full force to remember the exploits of the Bengali battler. Ganguly is best remembered for being a steely customer, both as a batsman, as well as captain. It is often ignored that Ganguly had a fine record as a batsman, playing with consistency in a career that spanned well over a decade at the international level.

He made 7212 runs in 113 Test matches at an average of 42.17. On the other hand, in ODI cricket, Ganguly made 11363 runs in 311 games.

Happy birthday dada @SGanguly99 wish you a great year ahead!! #HappyBirthdayDada — Rambabu Chelikani (@ChelikaniRam) July 8, 2017

#HappyBirthdayDada
wishing a very happy birthday to Bangal tiger A man who changed the mindset of the team as well as the cricket fans — Kulbeer Singh (@kulbeer2995) July 8, 2017

#HappyBirthdayDada Happy birthday to the #BengalTiger ,#Princeofkolkata, One of the best captains of Indian team. #offside god,murderer

— Hari Krishna (@ImHari49) July 8, 2017

Wishing The Man who inspired Billions with his ATTITUDE & GUTS @SGanguly99 #HappyBirthdayDada :)
Dada Giri Never Ends  — SPYder (@urstrulyAbbas) July 8, 2017

And then there was the leadership. Ganguly added a sense of grit into the Indian team while he was captain. As a skipper, he was involved in winning a Test series in Pakistan, as well as drawing a Test series in Australia.

Post retirement, Ganguly has donned many hats. He has been a cricket broadcaster, a TV show host and a cricket administrator.

It must be said that the revival of Indian cricket as a force to reckon with in international cricket started only when Ganguly took over. It also gave the team a brand of aggression, at least in body language, which was not seen before.