Dada first look: Rajkummar Rao recreates Sourav Ganguly’s horic shirt-swinging moment | Bollywood News
3 min readMumbaiJul 8, 2026 11:35 AM The makers of Dada, the upcoming biopic of ace Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly, have unveiled the film’s first look on his 54th birthday. The film, which features Rajkummar Rao as Ganguly, is seen recreating a horic milestone of the former Indian cricket team captain in the first look. Ganguly even shared the film’s poster on X, calling it the “best gift ever”.
Dada first look
Ganguly took to his X handle on Wednesday morning and shared the first look poster. “The Best Gift Ever! Can’t wait to see you play my cover drive! #RajkummarRao,” he wrote in the caption. Rajkummar, as well as Dada director Vikramaditya Motwane, also shared the poster on their Instagram handles, wishing “our dearest Dada” a very happy birthday. The tagline on the poster aptly reads, “He didn’t just play the game, he changed it.”
In the first look, Rajkummar bears an uncanny resemblance to Ganguly, given the hairstyle and the physique. He also recreates precisely the very specific expression of Ganguly during the horic moment from 24 years ago. Back in 2002, when Indian cricket team defeated England on the latter’s home turf of the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London in the finals of the NatWest Series.
The Best Gift Ever! Can’t wait to see you play my cover drive! #RajkummarRao#Dada #DadaTheSouravGangulyStory #DadaFirstLook pic.twitter.com/TqHsWn2Eg8
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 8, 2026
Ganguly’s horic shirt-swinging moment
The impressive performance his teammates — Yuvraj Singh and Muhammad Kaif — was made even more memorable the moment when Ganguly, then the captain of the Indian cricket team, took off his blue jersey and swung it out of joy from the balcony to celebrate the horic win. It’s still considered one of the most noteworthy moments in the hory of Indian cricket.
How Ganguly defended taking his shirt off at Lord’s
Of course, Ganguly’s move didn’t go down well with certain sections of the sport, who was accused of dishonouring the Lord’s protocol and tarnishing the image of the “gentleman’s game” that is cricket. However, Ganguly later defended his actions, claiming that his intention was just to recreate a similar moment executed Andrew Flintoff. The British cricketer took off his shirt at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai earlier that year after England defeated India in a One Day International series final, setting the ball rolling for a fierce rivalry with Ganguly.
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Dada: The Sourav Ganguly Story will reunite Motwane and Rajkummar 11 years after their 2016 survival drama Trapped is produced Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg’s Luv Films. It also stars Tanya Maniktala as the cricketer’s wife Dona Ganguly and Saswata Chatterjee as his father Chandi Ganguly among others. Written Abhay Koranne of Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, Rocket Boys, and Matka King-fame, It’s slated to release in cinemas on May 14 next year, during the extended Eid weekend.
