Irrespective of whether its a young tiger or an old one, when it roars, it does bring shivers down the spine. Similar has been the Prince Of Kolkatta’s career too. He came into the International scene with a bang scoring a century on debut and followed it up with another making it two for the debut series in England. As Sourav admitted, it was indeed amazing to make a mark at the Mecca of Cricket – Lords.

Since then, there has been no turning back. He has gone through a lot of high’s and low’s. He with Tendulkar formed a formidable opening pair and their record for the aggregate together still stands atop the charts. Sourav Ganguly has played some breath-taking innings when it has mattered the most. He has also come up with some special performances time and again.

Till date, there is no one to better his performance at Toronto. He exploited both with the bat and the ball. He holds the record for winning four consecutive man of the match awards. He also holds the record for being part of most number of 200 runs partnership. Along with this add the most ODI runs in a calender year thrice ( in 1997, 1999 and 2000 ). He was also the fastest to 7,000 ODI runs ( in 174 innings ) and also to 8,000 ( in 200 innings ) and 9,000 ( in 228 innings ).

He also stands third on the list of World’s big hitters with a tally of 190 6’s in ODI’s and 57 in tests. He was also the first left-handed batsman to get past the magical 10,000 mark and third in the world to achieve the feat. He is currently fourth in the list of most centuries by an individual. This is by no means an easy achievement.

Add to this his exploits as a Captain. He lead India in 49 matches and has an amazing record of 15 consecutive victories bettered only by Australia till date. He has been India’s most successful Captain. During this tenure, he also became the second in the World to aggregate 5,000 ODI runs as Captain. He brought in a new feel into the Indian team and took it to great heights. He laid the platform for where we are today, a competitive team anywhere around the world. He changed the phase of Indian Cricket and redefined the term aggression to the Indian Cricketers.

Under him, cropped up a group of gifted youngsters, notable among them is Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Harbhajan Singh. He always backed youngsters and ensured the selectors understood the need of the youngsters for the balance of the team. A lot has been said about his inability against the short ball. But his record in Australia speaks for itself. No one can forget his efforts in the 1999 World Cup where he specially carrassed the Sri Lankans. So was his efforts in the 2003 World Cup scoring two crucial centuries.

He seemed to be an ocean of talent unless the unfortunate incident in 2005 after which everything changed. Even then he proved himself and he has done it to such an extent that he can be called the man of comebacks. His last test summed up his career. A strokeful 85 in a tough situation in the first innings and a golden duck like the great Don in the second innings to bring an end to a glittering career. He has seen everything. After all Dada in Hindi means Don. The Cricketing fraternity will miss the shots that he played through the off side.

He was deservedly called the Bengal tiger for he combined brute force with sheer timing like a majestic tiger. I’ve put together loads of videos and photos here. Don’t mind it as this is what my heart asks me to do. I’m filled with loads of emotions. We will surely miss you Sourav Ganguly.