5 life lessons we can learn from Sourav Ganguly

#3 Relish the opportunity to prove a point

Ganguly silenced the doubters by smashing a scintillating century at The Gabba

With his trademark crouching stance, Ganguly's languid style of play through the off-side was one of the most elegant sights in the Indian team of his era. However, his issues against well-directed short-pitched deliveries did not go unnoticed. While pitches in the subcontinent did not provide enough assistance to exploit his technique against bouncers, the southpaw's weakness was often put to the sword by Test-class fast bowlers outside Asia.

Before India embarked on a demanding tour of Australia in 2003/04, critics began to hound his ability to tackle the short ball. By the time the first Test began on a typical Gabba surface, plenty had written him off. However, Ganguly produced a regal 196-ball 144 against a bowling attack led by Jason Gillespie and helped India emerge from the match with a creditable draw. The visitors would go on to script a historic triumph in Adelaide and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy following a remarkable 1-1 series score-line.

(Video Courtesy: cricket.com.au)

Instead of cowering into his shell, Ganguly confronted criticism head-on and used the encircling situation as an opportunity to prove a point. Possessing such a fighting attitude in the face of opprobrium is extremely necessary to survive in the cut-throat environment prevalent within the contemporary work force.