Not Just Greg Chappell, Everyone Was Involved: Sourav Ganguly Sheds Light on His Sacking From Indian Cricket Team
“The others are not innocent either. A foreign coach (Greg Chappell) who doesn’t have any say in the selection cannot drop an Indian captain. I had understood that this is not possible without the support of the entire system. Everyone was involved in the scheme to drop me," said Ganguly.
Former Indian skipper and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly enjoyed a sensational run in international cricket and his numbers speak volumes of his prowess. However, along with glory moments, the southpaw’s career was also marred with many controversies. In 2005, the left-handed batsman wasn’t just sacked as the Indian captain but also got dropped from the side. In a recent interaction, Ganguly shed lights on the infamous episode and called it the ‘biggest’ setback of his career. Calling his sacking ‘injustice,’ Ganguly said he was shocked by the decision as the side was doing reasonably well under his leadership. Sachin Tendulkar Not Greg Chappell Advised Rahul Dravid to Promote Irfan Pathan As Number Three Batsman.
“That was the biggest setback of my career. It was an absolute injustice. I know you can’t get justice all the time but even then that treatment could have been avoided. I was the captain of the team which had just won in Zimbabwe and I get sacked after returning home,” Ganguly told Bengali newspaper Sangbad Pratidin.
“I dreamt of winning the 2007 World Cup for India. We had lost in the final the previous time. I had reasons to dream too. The team had played so well under me for the last five years whether it was home or away. Then you suddenly drop me? First, you say I’m not in the ODI side, then you drop me from the Test team too,” Ganguly added. Harbhajan Singh Takes a Dig at Greg Chappell After his Comments on MS Dhoni.
The legendary cricketer, who turned 48 on July 8, also added that it all started when the then Indian coach Greg Chappell sent an e-mail to BCCI against him which eventually got leaked.
“I don’t want to blame Greg Chappell alone. There is no doubt about the fact that he was the one who started it. He suddenly sends an email against me to the board which gets leaked too. Does something like this happen? A cricket team is like a family. There can differences of opinion, misunderstandings in the family but that should be sorted out with dialogue. You are the coach, if you believed that I should play in a certain manner then come and tell me. When I returned as a player he had specified the same things then why not earlier?
The former Indian opener, however, refused to blame Chappell as he claimed that the ‘entire system’ was behind his sacking. “The others are not innocent either. A foreign coach who doesn’t have any say in the selection cannot drop an Indian captain. I had understood that this is not possible without the support of the entire system. Everyone was involved in the scheme to drop me. But I didn’t crumble under pressure. I didn’t lose confidence in me,” Ganguly added.
Despite being dropped in 2005, the left-handed batsman didn’t put his guards down and made a brilliant comeback in 2006. Being in the twilight on his career, Ganguly played some memorable knocks in his final years and ended his career on a high. He finally hung up his boots in 2008 but not before scoring 11363 runs in 311 ODIs and 212 runs in 113 Test matches.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2020 09:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).