Today on 8th July, is Sourav Ganguly’s 50th birthday. Ganguly played for the Indian team from a very young age and grew up with the Indian team by his side. He is presently the President of the BCCI. He is also known as Dada amongst his fans and in the cricket fraternity.
His opening partner and close friend Sachin Tendulkar revealed some of his insights during their period of reign when they were considered one of the best openers in the world. Tendulkar revealed how and why he chose Ganguly to be the vice-captain of India when he stepped down from the captaincy position in 1999.
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“Before stepping down, during India’s tour of Australia in which I was the captain, I had suggested Sourav to be made the vice-captain of the team. 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 told in conversation with PTI.
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Sachin was asked if he gave any freedom to his players during his five-year as skipper, he told, “Sourav was a great captain. He knew how to maintain a balance between giving freedom to the players and giving them certain responsibilities. When he took over, Indian cricket was in a transition phase. We needed the next bunch of players who could set a platform for propelling India forward.”
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“At that time, we found top class players- Virrender Shewag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra to name a few. They were gifted players, but even gifted players need support at the start of their careers, which Sourav provided. While their roles were defined in the team, they also got the freedom required to express themselves,” Sachin further added.
Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Why He Proposed Sourav Ganguly’s Name for Vice-Captain in 1999
The pairing of Sachin and Ganguly was very well known on-field and off-field. Still, there hasn’t been such an opener pair in the Indian team. Sourav debuted for India in 1992 and was very well known by 1996. Both the players first met at a BCCI-organized junior tournament in Kanpur.
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