In a session at the India Today Conclave East in Kolkata, former India captain and President of Cricket Association of Bengal, Sourav Ganguly opened up about his captaincy, selections and subsequent drops from the team and also about his experiences with Greg Chappell.
Ganguly said he was “desperate” to be the coach of the Indian team when Jagmohan Dalmiya asked him to try his hand at administration, reported The Indian Express.
When I got into administration, I was desperate to be the coach of the national side. (Jagmohan) Dalmiya called me and said ‘why don’t you try for six months’. He passed away and none was around, so I became the CAB president. People take 20 years to become president. You have to live for the daySourav Ganguly at the India Today Conclave East.
Ganguly was speaking at the Conclave along with his wife Dona.
On Retirement and the Pressure of Getting Selected
Ganguly said the biggest problem in a team sport is the fact that one gets selected by others, so even if one works well, he/she may not get a place in the side reports The Times Of India. He said that he retired because he “had enough of getting selected all the time.”
When I announced retirement in 2008, Sachin came at lunch and asked me ‘why did you take such a decision?’ I said because I don’t want to play anymore. He then said ‘this is the best time to see you play in such flow. Last three years had been your best’. I retired because at some point you’ve had enough. The reason is not because you have had enough of playing the sport but because you’ve had enough of getting selected all the time. I remember those days and think individual sports is a lot better when you are not dependent on the team.Sourav Ganguly at the India Today Conclave
He also said that getting dropped and being selected is a part of any sport and that even greats like Diego Maradona and Rahul Dravid have made way for other people.
On Greg Chappell
Terming the Greg Chappell saga as an ‘eye-opener’, Ganguly said that it only made him a better person.
Before that (the Chappell controversy), from 1995-2006, the graph was only up. I never missed a series. I was captain of India for six years. The world was at my feet till 2006. Not many captains in the world would go from not being captain to not even being in the side.Sourav Ganguly at the India Today East Conclave
He also lauded the way Virat Kohli treats now former captain MS Dhoni on the field. “You look at Dhoni. He is not the captain of the team but look at the way Kohli looks after him and they go about their job”, he said.
One of the most successful Indian captains, Ganguly was dropped in January 2006 but made a comeback against South Africa in the Johannesburg Test in December and went on to score an unbeaten 51.
In the home series against Pakistan in 2007, Ganguly notched up a century and a double hundred before retiring against Australia in the Nagpur Test in November 2008.
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