The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh have often credited former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Gangluly for changing the face of Indian cricket. The aggression and positivity with which Ganguly led India from 2000 to 2005 has been earmarked as one of the glorious eras of Indian cricket mainly because of the manner in which they played their cricket. Echoing the views of many former Indian greats, former England captain Nasser Hussain on Sunday lauded Ganguly for changing Indian cricket.
Hussain, who has played a lot of cricket against Ganguly, said the left-hander brought aggression into the game and before him India was a humble and polite team.
“Ganguly changed Indian cricket,” said Hussain in a podcast with Sky Sports. “Before Ganguly, India were a very humble, polite team. He made them a very feisty side.”
Hussain was talking about the NatWest Trophy final which India won courtesy brilliant half-centuries from Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh in 2002 and as soon as Zaheer Khan hit the winning runs, Ganguly took his shirt off and waved it from the Lord’s balcony.
Since then, Ganguly’s daring act has become a part of cricketing folklore. Hussain said the reason for the same was Andrew Flintoff’s celebration a year ago in Mumbai.
“Freddie bowled brilliantly at the death in that series, in scorching heat! He got the last wicket and, as was the fashion then, he whipped his shirt off.
