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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and former national team skipper Sourav Ganguly took to social media on Thursday to announce that there is a biopic on him in the works. 

Ganguly admitted that he was ‘thrilled’ to see his life story making it onto the big screen and said that it is a ‘journey to be cherished’.

The production house Luv Films also expressed their gratitude after being handed such a big opportunity. 

Fondly known as ‘Dada’, Ganguly is credited with the metamorphosis of Indian cricket and is remembered as one of India’s most successful captains of all-time.

He made his Test debut in 1996 when he scored a century against England at Lord’s and followed it with another ton in the next match.

Ganguly experienced quite a few ups and downs over the course of his career and was responsible for picking up the Indian cricket team from the match-fixing turmoil that had engulfed them in 2000.

He is also credited with giving breakthroughs and backing future stars like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh during his captaincy. 

Known as the ‘God of the Off Side’ for his aesthetically pleasing drives through the  covers and square, Ganguly’s career spanned 16 years and 113 Tests where he scored 7,212 runs.

He’s ninth on the list for most runs in ODIs having scored 11,363 runs, including 22 centuries from 311 matches.

The upcoming biopic on the former Indian skipper promises to be an exciting watch that will document the trials and tribulations of the Prince of Calcutta as he’s affectionately called.   

Cricket and Bollywood have always gone hand in hand in the past. Hence, it’s hardly a surprise that ‘The Bengal Tiger’ isn’t the first Indian cricketer whose life story will make it to the big screen. World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also had a biopic released in 2016 called MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. 

Sachin: A Billion Dreams depicted the life of the great Sachin Tendulkar in the form of a documentary while another former captain Mohammad Azharuddin had a sports drama called ‘Azhar’ inspired after him in 2016.

Biopics on the leading ladies in Indian cricket, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, are also in progress currently. A film called 83 which depicts India’s historic World Cup triumph in 1983 is slated for release soon as well.

While there is no clarity or update on who will play the man himself in the biopic, Ganguly has mentioned how he’d like leading Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor to depict him in the past.

Featured photo: Punit Paranjpe / AFP

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