What is your favorite 'Dada moment'?

[Ram]

This need not necessarily be an innings or a bowling performance, but can be some random collection of event or a single event in a cricket match. Mine would definitely be his shirt-less celebration atop the Lords balcony, when we won the Natwest trophy finals. Given that Lords was seen as some sort of traditionalists’ last meeting ground, with all its history, what he did was quite audacious. But, it also sent an extremely powerful message throughout the cricketing world that ‘India is afraid of no one!’

[DomainK]

Just listing some....not necessarily in the same order... 1. When he made Steve Waugh wait for the toss. Ganguly got under his skin for sure. That was the beginning of the script for the rest of that famous series. India became a permanent worry for Australia starting at that point. 2. Came back from a tuition. The match was in progress. India vs Sri Lanka, 1996 WC. Dravid and Ganguly were batting. Then the carnage started. I have never seen a better attack in my entire life. The Lanka bowlers were looking for cover. 3. Topless, fearless. 4. When Dravid said on the off side there is god and then there is Ganguly. 5. His comeback. He made the impossible possible by sheer determination. 6. When he almost single handedly beat Pakistan in Toronto (or canada?) in an ODI series 4-1. He claimed all 4 MOMs.

[Lurker]

Just listing some....not necessarily in the same order... 1. When he made Steve Waugh wait for the toss. Ganguly got under his skin for sure. That was the beginning of the script for the rest of that famous series. India became a permanent worry for Australia starting at that point. 2. Came back from a tuition. The match was in progress. India vs Sri Lanka, 1996 WC. Dravid and Ganguly were batting. Then the carnage started. I have never seen a better attack in my entire life. The Lanka bowlers were looking for cover. 3. Topless, fearless. 4. When Dravid said on the off side there is god and then there is Ganguly. 5. His comeback. He made the impossible possible by sheer determination. 6. When he almost single handedly beat Pakistan in Toronto (or canada?) in an ODI series 4-1. He claimed all 4 MOMs.

That would be mine as well(as an individual player) http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/28779.html?class=2;home_or_away=3;opposition=7;series=751;template=results;type=allround;view=innings As a skipper it would be hard to look beyond the 2001 Ind-Aus series.

[coffee_rules]

When India chased 300+ for the first time in ODIs. It was against Pak in Dhaka. IIRC, he scored 107, but was out before winning. That record held out for a long time in ODIs.

[Ram]

Wow, already some beautiful memories being kindled! I would also like to add the winning moment at Rawalpindi, in the 2004 test series against Pakistan. That was probably the crowning glory of Ganguly's captaincy, to be the first and ONLY Indian captain to win a test series in Pakistan.

[amits]

his 124 against pak in dhaka in the 1998 independence cuo final and his 144 in the brisbane test in 2003 v aus

[observer1]

the sheer exuberance when he caught afridi at midoff, first innings first match in the 2006 series in lahore/faislabad or wherever- the one where rd and vs scored 410 opening - the pak score was something like 700 for 3, the rest of the team were down in the dumps, and this guy was so positive and pumped up

[Dravid]

his 100 in ODIs v SA was one of the best odi innings too... though 189 v srl was just nutss :D

[Sachinism]

The comeback after everyone knocked him

[Ram]

Another one: During his innings of 183 against Lanka in Taunton, he was just raining sixes all over the place. Then, Martin Crowe was on commentary and Ganguly hit a HUGE six over long-on that cleared the entire ground. Crowe was so taken aback by Sourav's effortless strikes that he went silent for a second and said 'Stunning.... Stunning...See ya later' It was almost as though he had never seen anything like it before.

[Cricketics]

his 100 in ODIs v SA was one of the best odi innings too... though 189 v srl was just nutss :D

183 buddy...

[Ram]

His down-the-track-and-slash-over-point shots for sixes against South Africa in an ODI series against them were quite remarkable. He did it repeatedly against Ntini and for a while, Ntini did seem clueless about what to do to counter those shots.

[DomainK]

There have been uncountable "ooh" and "aah" shots. When dada bated along with Sachin, the batting was always extra ordinary. Some shots were too good to believe. So many times he opened the face of the bat and the ball rushed to the boundary line like a rocket. I often asked myself: "Is that within the laws of physics? Where did the ball gain that momentum from? Because the bat came down so gently." Dada was one of the last few that played with timing more than power. Today's generation believes more in power hitting. Timing as an art is losing focus. We might never again get to see those delicate shots that thrilled the core of us each time he played it. Also he was superb at improvising. What Boycs used to call calculated and measured slogging. Couple of steps down either side to make space a jump down the wicket to reduce the length.....dada was always in control.\ His balance when he danced down the track to hit spinners for sixes was amazing. His head was always so still.....allowing him to get into the right position to play the shot to whatever part of the ground he wanted. For ages cricket coaches will show those clips to the students to demonstrate how to keep your balance when you step down to play the spinners.

[Cricketics]

I will miss Dada. brilliant player. thanks for giving us so many many great victories SOURAV GANGULY... YOU ARE A LEGEND. INDIAN CRICKET WON'T HAVE BEEN COMPLETE WITHOUT YOU. WITHOUT ANY DOUBT, BEST EVER INDIAN CAPTAIN TILL DATE. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, HERE ARE MY FAVORITE DADA MOMENTS. - That Lord's final of 02.. What a start he gave to us to being our quest. and what celebrations.. - 183 VS Lanka at Taunton in a do or die game. - the Whole Sahara CUP 1997, where he lead us to 4-1 victory over Arch-Rivals - that 2003-04 TOUR TO Australia - The Century @ Dhaka in the 3rd and last final against Pakistan in the tri series. - world cup 2003.. brilliant captaincy. - 2004 tour to pakistan and needless to say, some other great century moments. THANKS DADA

[Ram]

I just ran a quick search about Dada on ICF and I came up with this thread. There are a lot of brilliant recollections here. http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?p=113969 Some of my contributions in that thread:

From 1999-2001 , he was the world's best one day batsman , even above the indomitable Sachin. Making his debut in 96 , Ganguly's one day evolved beautifully and soon became one of the leading lights of the one day game. His batting was a stunning mix improvisation , attacking stroke play and street smart intuition. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Ganguly is one of the top 3 ODI batsman ever. At one point , he made so many centuries that Sachin's record look threatened, but fell away a little. Nobody can deny Saurav a place among the hall of famers in ODI cricket. He was one step ahead of his contemporaries.

Dada is one of the all time legends of the one day game. At his peak , he was the meanest run machine around , whether scoring quick runs in the first 15 , grafting and rotating the strike in the middle and finishing with a flourish in the end. I can NEVER forget one shot of his. Maybe it was in early 2000's in a one day against New Zealand. We batted first and had a very bad start. Ganguly and Robin had an outstanding partnership and scored something like 70 runs in the last 4 overs , took us to a challenging total and we won easily. There is one shot of his , which remains etched in my memory. Chris Cairns bowled a brilliant yorker bang on the popping crease, towards the end of the Indian innings. Ganguly looked like he was just digging the ball out , but he timed it so well that it sailed over the bowler's head for a six. That shot typically characterizes his One day legacy. He wasnt the most talented around , but his improvisation was nothing short of genius.

http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1...11NOV1999.html This is the match i am talking about. Couple of corrections. It was in Oct 1999 and we didnt win easily , but by a margin of just 15 runs ( which increases the importance of Ganguly's contribution even more) Ganguly scored a 153 not out in a innings of 261 ( Thats a ridiculous 60% of the runs). None of the other top 6 batsman crossed 15. We were 140/5 in the 39th over when Robin joined him. They put on 119 runs in eleven overs , with almost 75 runs in the last 5 overs. This was Ganguly's one day prowess at its best.

That innings was pure magic.

47.3 Cairns to Ganguly, SIX, yorker dug out, timed beautifully over long on

When I saw this live on T.V, I was like 'WTF....How did he do that!'

[Sachinism]

^^ I remember one game against SA, where he hit a few yorkers for sixes amazing

[satishg]

The Lords act tops my list..his captaincy in the 2001 series comes next..his debut century against England..sublime batting..his 144 against Aussies at Brisbane..i just cant forget that innings..it was a message to both the Indian team and the aussies..Dada was the best :)

[jf1gp_1]

98 NO second test against SL in SL. We were 1 test down and Ganguly played a great inning to see us through.

[Lurker]

One of the standout memories is when during late 90s and early 2000s(after becoming skipper) Ganguly had openly stated - We dont need Sachin to win matches. It was instantly tagged by the media as anti-Sachin rhetoric but the fact is it sent out strong signals within India and outside. At the time most opponents thought dismissing Sachin was match won, they did realize it was not the case anymore. This era coincided with emergence of Sehwag, Dravid, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Zaheer as match winners and if you trace it back I am sure atleast a good %age of that was down to Ganguly and his inherent beleif that India could, and did, win without Sachin in his best form.

[King Tendulkar]

Just listing some....not necessarily in the same order... 1. When he made Steve Waugh wait for the toss. Ganguly got under his skin for sure. That was the beginning of the script for the rest of that famous series. India became a permanent worry for Australia starting at that point. 2. Came back from a tuition. The match was in progress. India vs Sri Lanka, 1996 WC. Dravid and Ganguly were batting. Then the carnage started. I have never seen a better attack in my entire life. The Lanka bowlers were looking for cover. 3. Topless, fearless. 4. When Dravid said on the off side there is god and then there is Ganguly. 5. His comeback. He made the impossible possible by sheer determination. 6. When he almost single handedly beat Pakistan in Toronto (or canada?) in an ODI series 4-1. He claimed all 4 MOMs.

Great post, great memories:two_thumbs_up: