Johannesburg, Feb 16 : The celebrated Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) awarded former India cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday with an honorary life membership to the club.

Following Ganguly's Test debut in 1996 he played a combined 424 Test and ODI matches for India, averaging over 40 with the bat and taking 132 wickets.

Ganguly, who captained India 195 times, claimed that he has got some fantastic memories of playing at Lord's that he carries with him forever, from the hundred on his debut to the amazing NatWest Trophy Final in 2002, Sport24 reported.

The former skipper said that he has thoroughly enjoyed coming back to the ground both as a player and since he retired, and added that it's wonderful to now be part of MCC. He said that he would like to thank the Club for awarding him this privilege.

The Lord's based MCC, which has been acting as the guardian of the sport's laws for more than 200 years, awards honorary life membership s to recognise an individual's service to cricket and other projects surrounding the game, the report added. (ANI)