One of the greatest Indian skippers of all time, Sourav Ganguly was instrumental in changing the face of Indian cricket around the turn of the century. He instilled a will to win and an aggressive streak in his team, especially on foreign tours, that was very different from the passive cricketers on previous tours.
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Under his leadership, India won in England, Pakistan and Australia, as well as reaching the 2003 World Cup final. India were easily the second best side in world cricket at at point, but were just not able to match a once on a generation team in Australia.
Ganguly recently released his autobiography, A Century Is Not Enough, in which he mentions his regret that he could not take MS Dhoni to the 2003 World Cup.
“I had over the years constantly looked out for players who remain steady under pressure and possess the capability to change the course of the match.” Dada penned it down.
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who came to my notice in 2004, was a natural progression of this thought. I was impressed with MS Dhoni from day one,” he further added.
“Today I am happy that my assessment was proven right. It is amazing how he broke through the ranks to become what he is today,” Dada wrote.
Ganguly also revealed that MS asked him to captain in his final test match in 2008.
“As the match came to a close, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a surprise gesture asked me to lead. I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time.”
“But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled,” Sourav elaborated in his book.
Dada also revealed that Yuvraj was far from a troublesome character to manage.
“For me, handling him [Yuvraj] was never a problem. Yes, he would meet his friends and have parties. But that didn’t matter as he won you matches like the very first one-day in Nairobi,” Ganguly wrote.
