“He had the right qualities to take Indian cricket forward”: When Sachin Tendulkar recommended Sourav Ganguly to be his vice-captain on 1999 Australian tour

Sachin Tendulkar has revealed the reason behind naming Sourav Ganguly as his vice-captain during the 2000 Australian tour.

Sourav Ganguly was one of the best captains of Indian cricket history. He did not win any ICC majors with the side, but the players he trusted in played a huge part in the 2011 ICC World Cup campaign.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly shared a great comradery between them, and they set some great opening stands between them. Both of them opened the batting 136 times for India in ODIs, where they scored 6609 runs at an average of 49.32 courtesy of 21 century and 23 fifty-plus stands.

When Sachin Tendulkar recommended Sourav Ganguly to be vice-captain

In a recent interview with PTI, Sachin Tendulkar revealed how he recommended Sourav Ganguly to be his vice-captain. Sourav Ganguly turned 50 on Friday, and Sachin Tendulkar was also with him in London to celebrate the same.

Sachin Tendulkar revealed that Sourav Ganguly has that quality to maintain the balance between giving freedom to the players and giving them responsibilities. Tendulkar recalled that the team was in a transition phase in the 2000s, and how Sourav handled the team was fantastic.

A lot of players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, etc thrived under Sourav Ganguly, and they give a lot of credit for their careers to Ganguly only. Tendulkar agreed that even gifted players need someone to support them at the start of their careers.

“At that time, we found top-class players – Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra to name a few. They were gifted players, but which even gifted players need support at the start of their careers, which Sourav provided,” Tendulkar told PTI.

Celebrated the 50th birthday of Sourav Ganguli.wishing him happy & healthy life ahead. ⁦@SGanguly99⁩ ⁦@sachin_rt⁩ ⁦@JayShah⁩ ⁦@BCCI⁩ pic.twitter.com/KBXbBajp3s

— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) July 7, 2022

The Australian tour of 1999 was Sachin’s 2nd last tour as the captain of the side, and he recommended Sourav Ganguly to be his vice-captain at that time. Tendulkar revealed that he knew that Ganguly had the right qualities to take Indian cricket forward.

“I had seen him from close quarters, played cricket with him, and knew he had the right qualities to take Indian cricket forward. He was a good leader. I, therefore, recommended his name,” Tendulkar said.

“Sourav never looked back and what he has achieved for India is out there for all of us to see.”