Sourav Ganguly is fondly remembered as one of the greatest captains in cricket’s history. Not only was he a great leader, he was also one of the most devastating opening batsmen that the game has ever seen.
Ganguly single-handedly brought about resurgence in Indian cricket by giving talented youngsters an opportunity ahead of ageing out-of-form veterans.
Born on this day in 1972 in Kolkata, there is however one mistake that Ganguly would regret for the rest of his life.
It was said that there was no one in the Indian dressing room who was a better judge of character than Ganguly. But it did fail him once.
Following the departure of former Team India coach John Wright, Australian cricketing legend Greg Chappell was roped in to lead India to glory. Apparently it was Ganguly himself who put pressure on BCCI to hire Chappell.
Writing in his autobiography ‘A Century is Not Enough’, Ganguly said: “I thought Greg Chappell would be the best person to take us to number one in challenging conditions. I told Jagmohan Dalmiya about my choice. … Some people advised me not to take such a step. Sunil Gavaskar was also one of them. He said … ‘Sourav give it a second thought’.”
Ganguly did not hear anyone’s advice and Chappell became India’s coach. Chappell not only split the Indian team, but also took the captaincy away from Ganguly.
The situation was so dire that the team was eliminated from the 2007 ICC World Cup group stage after a defeat against Bangladesh. Not only Ganguly but even players like Mohammed Kaif and Sachin Tendulkar did not want to recall this horrible episode in India’s cricket history.
Sachin even termed Chappell as a ‘ring master’. When Kaif was asked about it during a talk show, he refused to talk about it.
Ganguly considers it as the biggest mistake of his life. Perhaps if Chappell was not associated with India, then Ganguly’s career would have been even bigger. Yet, ‘Dada’ will always be remembered for his tremendous contribution to Indian cricket. He will also be remembered as the captain who never gave up.
PNN/Agencies
