Sourav Ganguly took over the captaincy of Indian cricket team when the sport was plagued by match-fixing scandal. Ganguly took over the reins in 2000 after Sachin Tendulkar quit from the top job and changed the image of the sport in the country for good.
Ganguly went on to become one of the most successful captains to have played the sport in the country, leading India to Champions Trophy glory in 2002 and World Cup final in 2003. Under Ganguly, India put opposition teams under pressure on the road and clinched some memorable victories.
However, Ganguly’s route to India captaincy was not straightforward. After waiting for 4 years to return to the senior side following his debut in 1992, Ganguly emerged as one of the leading young batsmen in the side.
Nonetheless, there was resistance to Ganguly becoming vice-captain of the team, let alone the captain, reveals Indian Cricketers’ Association chief and former selector Ashok Malhotra.
A former India coach was apprehensive about appointing Ganguly as the vice-captain to Sachin Tendulkar, according to Malhotra who said it took a bit of effort to get the Bengal batsman into the leadership role.
“If I remember correctly, picking Sourav Ganguly as vice-captain was a tougher job. I remember we picked him in Calcutta and the coach had some things to say – drinks too much Coke, takes singles but not twos, etc. In the bargain, I said having a Thumbs Up does not disqualify him as a vice-captain,” Malhotra, who was the part of the selection panel, told Sportskeeda in a Facebook live session.
“But then, I won’t name the President, but he walked into the selection, which has never ever happened in the history of the BCCI. And he and the Chairman told us, ‘Gentlemen, let’s do some rethinking’.
“Two of us still stuck to our guns, but one selector said, ‘No, the President has said it so I will go with him.’
“So we didn’t make him vice-captain then but later on, we managed to (make him). I know today he’s a legendary captain today, but a little bit of effort was there to make him captain, and even vice-captain.”
Malhotra also said Anil Kumble and Ajay Jadeja were ahead of Sourav Ganguly among the frontrunners when it came to choosing Sachin Tendulkar’s successor as the captain of Team India.
“None of us knew Sourav Ganguly would become the captain, because Sachin was the captain then. But once he resigned, we had to convince everyone to make him captain because Anil Kumble and Ajay Jadeja were in line. I had to work overtime,” Malhotra said.
