Sourav Chandidas Ganguly ( pronunciation ; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning "elder brother" in Bengali), is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team, Currently, he is appointed as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal and President of the Editorial Board with Wisden India. During his playing career, Ganguly established himself as one of the world's leading batsmen and also one of the greatest captains of the national cricket team. While batting, he was especially prolific through the off side, earning himself the nickname God of the Off Side for his elegant strokeplay square of the wicket and through the covers. Sourav Ganguly is one of the four members of the Indian Premier League's Governing Council, responsible for all the functions of the tournament.
1972-1989: Early life and introduction to cricket
Sourav Ganguly was born on 8 July 1972 in Calcutta, and is the youngest son of Chandidas and Nirupa Ganguly. Chandidas ran a flourishing print business and was one of the richest men in the city. Ganguly had a luxurious childhood and was nicknamed the 'Maharaja', meaning the 'Great King'. Ganguly's father Chandidas Ganguly died at the age of 73 on 21 February 2013 after a long illness.  Since the favourite sport for the people of Calcutta was football, Ganguly was initially attracted to the game. However, academics came in-between his love for sports and Nirupa was not very supportive of Ganguly taking up cricket or any other sport as a career. By then, his elder brother Snehasish was already an established cricketer for the Bengal cricket team. He supported Ganguly's dream to be a cricketer and asked their father to get Ganguly enrolled in a cricket coaching camp during his summer holidays. Ganguly was studying in tenth grade at that time.  Despite being right-handed, Ganguly learnt to bat left-handed so he could use his brother's sporting equipment. After he showed some promise as a batsman, he was enrolled in a cricket academy. An indoor multi-gym and concrete wicket was built at their home, so he and Snehasish could practice the game. They used to watch a number of old cricket match videos, especially the games played by David Gower, whom Ganguly admired. After he scored a century against the Orissa Under-15 side, he was made captain of St Xavier's School's cricket team, where several of his teammates complained against what they perceived to be his arrogance. While touring with a junior team, Ganguly refused his turn as the twelfth man, as he reportedly felt that the duties involved, which included organising equipment and drinks for the players, and delivering messages, were beneath his social status. Ganguly purportedly refused to do such tasks as he considered it beneath his social status to assist his teammates in such a way. However, his playmanship gave him a chance to make his first-class cricket debut for Bengal in 1989, the same year that his brother was dropped from the team.
how was his early life?
Ganguly had a luxurious childhood
Ganguly had a luxurious childhood