Sourav Ganguly: All you need to know about Dada, the cool new CAB president

Four days after the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee revealed that former India captain Sourav Ganguly will succeed him as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

The West Bengal CM had summoned Ganguly along with the other CAB joint-secretary Subir Ganguly, treasurer Biswarup Dey and Dalmiya's son Abhishek on 25 September to strike a consensus for the crucial CAB position. Winning the support of Biswarup Dey, who boasts many supporters having served the CAB for a decade, turned out to be crucial for Ganguly.

Ganguly, who will become the state association's youngest-ever president, had also met Banerjee on 24 September alongside Abhishek Dalmiya, to gain her support for the top job. Abhishek will take over Ganguly's previously-held post as joint-secretary of CAB.

Next week, 43-year-old Ganguly will be summoning a special general meeting (SGM) of the CAB to formalise his appointment as president of the state association and reshuffle the office-bearers line-up to accommodate Dalmiya's son, Avishek - another Mamata Banerjee choice.

As the Prince of Kolkata gears up for his first-ever SGM as CAB president, here's a look at the decorated profile of Sourav Ganguly:

Cricketing career

Following a prolific Ranji Trophy season in 1990-91, Sourav Ganguly made his international debut for India in 1992. Ever since scoring a mere three runs on his debut against the West Indies, Ganguly amassed 11,363 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) including 72 half-centuries and 22 hundreds.

In Test cricket, the left-hander boasts 7,212 runs including 35 fifties and 16 centuries. Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008 after he scored 85 runs in the Nagpur Test against Australia. Currently, Ganguly is the 5th highest run scorer in ODIs and was the 3rd person in history to cross the 10,000 run landmark, after Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Success as Indian captain

During his career that spanned around 15 long years, Sourav Ganguly was not only India's most successful overseas captain, but he also infused an unknown terms in India, that of 'aggression' and 'passion'. Dada took over as the captain of the Indian team at a time when the game of cricket was disrupted with match-fixing allegations in 2000.

Ganguly emerged as a tough, able and an adamant leader, who took his team to miraculous heights, winning 11 out of the 28 Test matches overseas. Overall, Ganguly won a record 21 out of the 49 Test matches as Indian skipper. In ODIs, Ganguly led India to 76 victories out of the 147 matches as captain.

Role as cricket administrator

Following his retirement from international cricket, it was reported that Ganguly was being projected as a candidate for the post of President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) against his former mentor Jagmohan Dalmiya. However, against the popular perception, Ganguly was appointed the chairman of the CAB's Cricket Development Committee in 2008.

The committee was responsible for assessing the accountability of the selectors and make necessary recommendations at the end of every cricket season. In 2014, Ganguly was elected as the joint-secretary of the CAB while Jagmohan Dalmiya was re-elected unopposed as the association's president for yet another term. At the time of his appointment, Dalmiya had said that Ganguly would do justice to his new role as a cricket administrator.

Records

Sourav Ganguly was the seventh Indian cricketer to have played 100 Test matches, the 4th highest overall run scorer for India in Tests, and the fourth Indian to have played in more than 300 ODIs. In terms of overall runs scored in ODIs, Ganguly is the second among Indians after Sachin Tendulkar (who has the most ODI runs) and the eighth overall. He scored 16 centuries in Test matches and 22 in ODIs. He is also one of only ten batsmen to score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs.

Along with Tendulkar, Ganguly formed the most successful opening pair in ODI cricket, having amassed the highest number of century partnerships (26) for the first wicket. Together, they have scored more than 7,000 runs at an average of 48.98, and hold the world record for creating most number of 50-run partnership in the first wicket (44 fifties). He is also one of the only four players in the world to achieve amazing treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODI cricket history, the others being Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Sanath Jayasuriya.