New Delhi: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Monday turned 47 and social media websites were flooded with birthday wishes for the 'Bengal Tiger'.
Virender Sehwag, who played alongside Ganguly, wished him in his unique witty style. "Happy Birthday to a 56" captain, Dada! 56 inch chest, 8th day of the 7th month, 8*7=56 and a World Cup average of 56. Happy Birthday Dada, May God Bless You!" tweeted Sehwag along with Ganguly's iconic image from Lords and his career statistics.
V.V.S. Laxman wrote, "Many more happy returns of the day Sourav Ganguly! Wish you ever more success and love Happy Birthday Dada."
"Happy Birthday to a man who brought about a fantastic transition in Indian cricket, a brilliant leader who backed guys he believed in to the fullest. But aise kaun chadhta hai, Dada," wrote Mohammed Kaif.
"Batsman, bowler, captain, commentator. One man. Many faces. Happy birthday, Sourav Ganguly," tweeted ICC alongwith four different pictures of 'Dada'.
"Happy birthday dada. You have been the greatest pillar to Indian cricket!!! Thanks for your guidance towards everything!!! A true legend who has made some golden memories. May god shower lots of blessings and love!" wrote Ishant Sharma.
With 11,363 runs in 311 ODIs, Ganguly is currently the third highest run-scorer for India in the 50-over-format. He also featured in 113 Test matches and scored 7,212 runs with an average of 42.17.
The left-handed batsman shared great camaraderie with Sachin Tendulkar and both went onto put together 6,609 runs in 136 matches, which includes 21 century partnerships and 23 fifty run partnerships.
Ganguly, during his captaincy, ended Australia's famous winning run of 16 back-to-back Test matches in 2001 by winning the bilateral series 2-1 at home. And it was under Ganguly's leadership when India went on to feature in the World Cup Cup final for the second time in the 2003 quadrennial event where they lost to Australia.