Some Lesser Known Facts About Sourav Ganguly?

I)  Sourav Ganguly's ton at Lord's Cricket ground was the highest score(131) by a batsman on debut    at the ground.

 

II)  Following Sachin's footsteps, Sourav donned the entrepreneur's hat and opened a three-storey  restaurant, Maharaja Sourav's - The Food Pavilion in Calcutta's posh locality Park Street. The restaurant was inaugurated by Sachin himself in 2004.

 

 

III)  Sourav Ganguly is the third cricketer in the world, along with Aravinda De  Silva and Mahela Jayawardene, to score a 100 and lead a team to the  final of a World Cup. He scored a century (114-ball 111*) against Kenya in 2003 Worldcup Semi-final. 

IV)  Sourav's parents gave him the nickname Maharaj when he was a kid. He  was later nicknamed The Prince of Calcutta by Geoffrey Boycott.

 

V)  Ganguly was born a right-hander. He writes, eats, and as we know, bowls  with his right-hand. He was a right-handed batsman, too, in his early  days. His brother Snehashish was, however, a left-hander, and Sourav  wanted to use his gear. Exactly why he did this is unknown, since the Ganguly's are one of the richest families of Calcutta, but the choice  made him the leading run-scorer among all left-handed Indian Test  batsmen.

IV) Sourav's parents gave him the nickname Maharaj when he was a kid. He  was later nicknamed The Prince of Calcutta by Geoffrey Boycott.

 

V)  Ganguly was born a right-hander. He writes, eats, and as we know, bowls  with his right-hand. He was a right-handed batsman, too, in his early  days. His brother Snehashish was, however, a left-hander, and Sourav  wanted to use his gear. Exactly why he did this is unknown, since the Ganguly's are one of the richest families of Calcutta, but the choice  made him the leading run-scorer among all left-handed Indian Test  batsmen.

 

VIII)  Only once had Ganguly opened batting in a Test, and it was in the same  Test where he had gone all the way in the first innings in 1997-98,  hitting Kumar Dharmasena out of Wankhede. With India having secured a  151-run lead, Sachin  promoted Ganguly (instead of Nayan Mongia) to open with Navjot Sidhu.  It did not go too well: he fell to Pramodya Wickramasinghe for a 12-ball 11.

 

IX)  Sourav Ganguly’s Love Story
 

The love story of Sourav Ganguly and Dona Roy would make perfect material for a Bollywood Movie.

Sourav Ganguly has lived a life of luxury as he comes from an affluent family. But this does not mean that life has been a ‘walk in the park’ for Dada. As much as his cricketing career has been a ‘tale to tell’, his personal life is also no less than a movie script. Dada is not a man to express his emotions in words, so when it came to the love of his life, he kept his words aside and went to action mode straightaway.

 

All of us know the old adage ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, but Sourav took it a bit too seriously when he fell head over heels in love with his next door neighbour, Dona. The two familial houses shared a common boundary wall.

Sourav and Dona grew up together and were best of friends. Like a true love struck teenage hero, Sourav would take a drive around Dona’s school with the hope of seeing her. But all was not rosy candy-floss stuff like a Karan Johar movie. The families drifted apart and became sour enemies. Like legendary Romeo and Juliet style, any kind of alliance between the two families was completely unacceptable. Even though the two families kept a distance, Sourav went to watch Dona perform Odissi recitals and Dona watched his matches. The cuteness of their story is surely going to warm every heart.

The couple saw to it that they kept their sweet secret under the wraps. Though Sourav’s family was adamant at not approving a non-Brahmin girl as their daughter-in-law, our Dada is Dada. After Sourav returned from his spectacular Test debut at Lords in 1996, they decided it was time to tie the knot. At that time he was the ‘toast of the town’ and his household was in a celebratory mood.
Sourav called up Moloy Banerjee , the highly respected Bengal cricketer, and confided in him. He later agreed and said, “Can’t say no to Maharaj.” On August 12, 1996, they were married by the registrar, in Banerjee’s living room. When the families got the news, all hell broke loose, but gradually went on to accept the decision of their children. A formal wedding was conducted on February 21st 1997. This is the date the couple celebrates as their wedding anniversary.

After almost 15 years of marriage they are still the best of friends and friendlier neighbours. This is the story of the Maharaj and his Dancing Queen. We all know about Dada’s mental strength and the way he transformed Indian cricket. Therefore this story might not have surprised many as knowing his strong head, in hindsight it was evident that this Dilwala was surely going to get his Dulhaniya, anyhow.