Sourav Ganguly pulled up by Irfan Pathan for glaring error in tweet on eve of 50th birthday

Sourav Ganguly turns 50 on Saturday and the former India captain posted a video on the eve of his special day which consisted of a series of photos from his illustrious international career.

Ganguly, who was also president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between 2019 and 2022, seemed to intend the video to be a part of a series of posts he is making as he builds up towards a major announcement on his birthday.

While the photos in the video were a trip down memory lane for a number of Indian cricket fans who remember the days when Ganguly led the team, his former teammate Irfan Pathan ended up spotting an error in it. Pathan, who made his international debut under Ganguly in December 2003, pointed out that one of the photos in the video was of him batting and not the former skipper.

“Daadi I never knew that we look so similiar while batting that you will get confused;) But Thank you I will take that as a huge compliment,” Pathan joked in his tweet, referring to Ganguly as ‘daadi’ which is what his teammates used to often call him.

Irfan Pathan posts screenshots of error in Sourav Ganguly’s tweet

Ganguly made his international debut in an ODI match against the West Indies in the 1992 Benson and Hedges World Series. He famously scored a century on debut in Test cricket in 1996 at Lord’s against England.

Ganguly went on to be recognised as one of the greatest batters to have come out of India, particularly in ODIs. He scored 7212 runs in 113 Tests at an average of 42.17 with 16 centuries. In ODI cricket, Ganguly played 311 matches, scoring 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 with 22 centuries. His partnership record of 8227 runs with Sachin Tendulkar remains the highest in the history of ODI cricket.

It was as captain that Ganguly is remembered the most though. He took over the reins when India were still recovering from the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal of 2000 and famously led them to victory at home over Steve Waugh’s world-beating Australian team in a Test series. This included the memorable win at the Eden Gardens where India prevailed despite being forced to follow on. He also led India to the final of the 2003 World Cup and to the final of the 2002 Champions Trophy, where India were eventually declared joint winners with Sri Lanka as the final was washed out due to rain.

Ganguly’s captaincy reign came to an end after a fallout with then-head coach Greg Chappell. He eventually made a comeback into the Indian team though and retired from international cricket in 2008. Ganguly also captained Kolkata Knight Riders and Sahara Pune Warriors in the IPL before eventually retiring from all forms of cricket in 2012.