PHOTOS

Happy Birthday Sourav Ganguly: 5 Big Controversies Involving ‘Dada’ That Made Headlines; In Pics

First of all, a very happy birthday to Sourav Ganguly, who turns 51 today. Known as 'Dada' among teammates and fans, Ganguly made tons of runs for India while also winning many big tournaments and series as captain. However, he saw many controversies during his playing career. He continues to get involved in some controversies even today. Let's look at some of the biggest ones in his life right now.

Zee Media Bureau|

Updated:Jul 08, 2023, 06:37 AM IST

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Ganguly's career was full of controversies

While 'Dada' played cricket with passion and scored tons of runs, also taking India to many trophies but he was also a hot-headed personality who could not be bulled. You must have heard the story of how he made Steve Waugh wait for toss in a Test match. Waugh still thinks Ganguly did that intentionally, to get a psychological edge over the Aussies. That was Ganguly, who did not care about any controversies. Take a look some more in this gallery.

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Ganguly vs Warne

Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne came at loggerheads in IPL once over the legibility of a catch. Ganguly wanted the third umpire to check the catch again while this irked Warne, who was captain of Rajasthan Royals. The two got involved in a heated debate before being separated by the umpires and teammates. (Source: Twitter)

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Ganguly’s shirt-waving celebration at Lord’s

When India scripted a memorable come-from-behind win at Lord’s in final of Natwest Trophy 2002, captain Ganguly didn’t mind breaking traditions and stripped his shirt before waving it passionately on the historic balcony of the iconic cricket ground. The act did not go down well with the members of the MCC but Ganguly did not care. (Source: Twitter)

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Potshot at Dravid after retirement

After tussle with Greg and eventually losing his place in the side, Ganguly did make a comeback. Years after his retirement, he made a startling comment on Rahul Dravid. He said that Dravid did not do anything to support him in the Chappell saga. Dravid hit back at him, saying that Ganguly never approached him to seek any solution to it. (Source: Twitter)

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Ganguly vs Chappell

Greg Chappell came to change Indian cricket for good in 2005. In th end, he ended up only doing the damage. One of the reasons was the ugly environment in the dressing room as most of the players had become anti-Chappell. It all started with an arguement between him and then captain Ganguly in Zimbabwe. It also led to Ganguly losing his captaincy eventually, and place in the side for a brief period. And the biggest dent was India getting knocked out of the 2007 ODI World Cup in West Indies. (Source: Twitter)

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Tussle with Virat Kohli

During Sourav Ganguly’s tenure as BCCI president, we saw how tense the situation was between him and then captain Virat Kohli. The Delhi-born, hot-headed Kohli had told the press that he was not asked by anyone at BCCI to not step down as T20 captain. This statement by Kohli put Ganguly in bad light, who had said earlier that he had done so. Ganguly and Kohli did not shake hands during IPL 2023, which reiginted the the stories of their alleged rift. (Source: Twitter)