In 2000, after the match fixing scandal by some of the players of the team,[43] Ganguly was named the Captain of the Indian cricket team. The decision was spurred due to Tendulkar stepping down from the position for his health, and Ganguly being the vice-captain at that time.[15] He began well as a captain, leading India to a series win over South Africa in the five-match one day series and led the Indian team to the finals of the2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy.[15] He scored two centuries, including one in the final; however, New Zealand still won by four wickets.[44] The same year, Ganguly tried his hand at county cricket career in England but was not successful.[45] In "The Wisden Cricketer", reviewers Steve Pittard and John Stern called him as "The imperious Indian—dubbed 'Lord Snooty'.
His Lancashire teammate Andrew Flintoff thought him to be aloof and compared his attitude to that of Prince Charles.[18] In Australia's three Test and five match ODI tour of India in early 2001, Ganguly caused controversy by arriving late for the toss on four occasions, something that agitated opposing captain Steve Waugh.[47] In the Fourth ODI, he caused further controversy by failing to wear his playing attire to the toss, something considered unusual in cricket circles.[48] However, India won the Test series 2–1, ending Australia's run of 16 consecutive Test match victories in the Second Test.[49] The match saw India looking set for defeat after conceding a first innings lead of 274. Waugh chose to enforce the follow-on andV. V. S. Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) batted for the entire fourth day's play to set Australia a target of 384 on a dusty, spinning wicket. The Australians were unable to survive and became only the third team to lose a Test after enforcing the follow-on.[50][51][52] In November 2001, Ganguly's wife Dona gave birth to their daughter Sana Ganguly.[15] During the final match of the 2002 NatWest Series held in Lords after a stunning performance by team mates Yuvraj Singh andMohammad Kaif, Ganguly took off his shirt in public and brandished it in the air to celebrate India's winning of the match.[53]He was later strongly condemned for tarnishing the "gentleman's game" image of cricket and disrespecting Lord's protocol. Ganguly said that he was only mimicking an act performed by the British all-rounder Andrew Flintoff during a tour of India.[54]In 2003, India reached the World Cup Final for the first time since 1983, where they lost to the Australians.[55] Ganguly had a successful tournament personally, scoring 465 runs at an average of 58.12, including three centuries.[56]
Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005, he was dropped from the team in October 2005.[60] Having been nominated and rejected in 2000, when the game suffered a tarnished reputation due to match fixing scandals,[43] the captaincy was passed to Dravid, his former deputy. Ganguly decided against retiring and attempted to make a comeback to the team.[20] Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, India's fourth highest civilian award, in recognition of his distinguished contribution in the field of sports. He was presented with the award on 30 June 2004, by then President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Following indifferent form in 2004 and poor form in 2005, he was dropped from the team in October 2005.[60] Having been nominated and rejected in 2000, when the game suffered a tarnished reputation due to match fixing scandals,[43] the captaincy was passed to Dravid, his former deputy. Ganguly decided against retiring and attempted to make a comeback to the team.[20] Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, India's fourth highest civilian award, in recognition of his distinguished contribution in the field of sports. He was presented with the award on 30 June 2004, by then President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
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