Arun Lal Reveals The Moment That Proved The Turning Point In Sourav Ganguly's career

Arun Lal, former Indian opener and the current Bengal coach, believes that the four years that the former Indian captain and the current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCCI], spent in the wilderness, is what made him the cricketer and the person he eventually became.

Ganguly was first called up to the national team during the 1991-92 tour of Australia where he made his ODI debut. But he was soon dropped from the team and it took four more years to make his Test debut, which he did against England at Lord’s in the summer of 1996.

“Sourav was gutted, devastated but when you look back and even at that time I said that if he wasn’t dropped from Indian cricket at that stage, he wouldn’t have become what he has now,” Arun Lal told Sportskeeda.

“Because a couple of years out of the team gave him time to mature, to understand and recollect himself and come back strong. And so you have Sourav Ganguly the captain and Sourav Ganguly now heading the BCCI,” he added.

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‘Like Tendulkar, Sourav was special’- Arun Lal

Arun Lal also went to recall the first time he saw Sourav Ganguly bat. That was during an exhibition match in Kolkata where a 16-year-old Ganguly smashed around 6-7 sixes, leaving a lasting impression on the veteran.

“I have always been a fan of Sourav. Like Tendulkar, Sourav was special. I remember watching Sourav play an exhibition match at CCFC in Kolkata. This young kid hit about 6-7 sixes in that exhibition game. He was hitting them out of the club, onto to the tramlines and with ease. He was all of 16-17 years old. So like Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly was born to play cricket. He had an extremely unbelievable amount of talent,” Lal added.

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