Indian cricket’s history can be broadly divided into two eras, before Sourav Ganguly and after Sourav Ganguly.
India had already tasted victory in the form of the 1983 World Cup win, and had produced cricketing legends like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. However, it was generally considered a strong team at home and a poor team away from home.

This all changed with the advent of Sourav Ganguly as captain.
He took charge of a crumbling Indian team, which had lost credibility and confidence after the infamous spot-fixing scandal.

Sourav Ganguly not only rebuilt the team, but he also gave Indian cricket a new attitude.

He gave fearless players like Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and MS Dhoni a chance to prove themselves. He inspired his team to not only play with respect to their opposition, but to beat them with style and panache. Ganguly’s Indian team made a name for itself not only in their own backyard but across the globe.
Ganguly’s contribution to Indian cricket was not just limited to wins and losses.

His fearless approach on the field and his no-nonsense attitude made him a fan favourite.

Here are three instances that perfectly encapsulate the fearless attitude of Sourav Ganguly ‘Dada’:

1. The Shirt That Changed Everything at Lord’s

Some victories are celebrated more than the trophies themselves. Few Indian victories live as large as that of 13 th July, 2002. Chasing down England’s 326 at Lord’s in the Natwest final, India had looked doomed to fail before Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif set about the task of chasing down the total.
Kaif remained unbeaten on 87 as India drew level with the hosts, and then came the images that made the victory memorable.

Sourav Ganguly stood on the balcony of Lord’s and in full view of the English crowd, took off his shirt and raised it up and down in celebration of the victory.

It was not just the audacity of the act that made it special. It was the fact that a similar gesture by Andrew Flintoff, after England’s ODI victory at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, had been the talk of the Indian press.

The response by Sourav Ganguly was the most fitting reply to Flintoff’s shirt celebration. The Lord’s balcony, where the most traditional of English clubs still gathered to watch the game, had become a part of the Indian cricket psyche.

That victory was more than just a win. It was a statement of intent that India would no longer be pushed around, that they were a force to be reckoned with, on their own patch as well as in the world arena.

2. The Mind Games That Rattled Australia

Steve Waugh’s Australia had an aura of invincibility. Ganguly wasn’t going to be intimidated, and during the legendary 2001 Border-Gavaskar Test series, the Indian skipper showed up late for the toss on numerous

The Aussie skipper even claimed in his autobiography that Ganguly was deliberately trying to psyche him out. Saurav Ganguly replied that he was simply looking for the official blazers all captains had to wear for the toss.
It didn’t matter whether it was intentional or not.

Australia took notice, and more importantly, India wasn’t intimidated.
India went on to post one of their best wins ever, as they clawed their way back to win the test series 2–1, snapping Australia’s 16-test winning streak in the process, and making a statement that they were a team to be reckoned with.

3. The Comeback That Silenced Every Critic

Every great leader has faced challenges. Ganguly faced challenges during his infamous fallout with coach Greg Chappell.

This feud caused Ganguly to lose the position of captain and subsequently lose his place in the team. Many people felt that Ganguly’s shining stardom was coming to a close. Ganguly disagreed.

He was recalled to play in the series against South Africa in 2006, and he made his intentions of winning clear when he scored a fluent 83 in the tour match against the Rest of South Africa.
However, it was his innings in the first Test at Johannesburg that had people talking.

Saurav Ganguly played a brilliant innings of 51 not out, which was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in the match.
This stand enabled India to create history by recording their first-ever Test win on South African soil.

It was more than just half a century; it was a glorious redemption for one of India’s finest.