Hiring Greg Chappell is biggest mistake of my career: Sourav Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly revealed a wide range of secrets recently in his book titled ‘ A Century is Not Enough. Ganguly, who had a rollercoaster ride throughout his career talked about his episode with Greg Chappell, his encounter with former CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya and many other things.

However, Ganguly admits that he holds no grudges that happened with him. He now enjoys his time with his daughter Sana going to movies and attending his role as a CAB president.

Always the  boss:

Ganguly is especially known for his leadership qualities. He led a star-studded Indian team comprising of the fav four. Stating that he doesn’t panic quickly, Ganguly admits he developed this over the years.

“I don’t panic easily because when I took guard against bowlers capable of bowling very fast, I couldn’t afford to do that. So I had to train my mind to stay calm. Over time, I have also developed the ability to back myself,” Ganguly says.

Ganguly took up captaincy when team India reeled up from a match-fixing scandal. However, for Ganguly captaincy is more of practice.

“For me, the art of captaincy was not theory but practice. I wanted to chart my own way and create a new template for success,” he wrote in his book.

Losing captaincy was hurtful:

Through examples, Ganguly tried to tell young cricketers how to face disappointments in life. He also urged cricketers to be ready for it.

“Losing the (India) captaincy (in 2005) came like a bolt from the blue. You are hurt but you can’t show it because you have to put that behind you and make a comeback. That was a huge learning experience because, for nearly a decade, things had only gone up for me. It made me tougher,” he says.

Hiring Chappell was a mistake:

The southpaw feels he is very fortunate as a player. However, Ganguly admits that hiring Greg Chapell as the Indian coach was a huge mistake.

“Hiring him was the biggest mistake of my career. I had known a different person from a stint as my batting coach in Australia. I don’t know what led to our relationship breaking down. After the 2007 World Cup, I haven’t interacted with him,” Ganguly added.

However, Ganguly believes getting dropped the team should not get personal. Further, he added that there aren’t many players in the Indian team who will complement Chapell as a coach.

“What happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone. Yes, you will get dropped, but it should never get personal. Every athlete should be judged by what happens in the park,” Ganguly says. “Sachin doesn’t have too many good things to say about him, does he? In future, you will find more books that say similar things about him,” Ganguly added.

Ganguly admits that he misses the high of winning cricket matches, but he knew it had to stop one day.

“It did for Muhammad Ali, Diego Maradona, Sachin Tendulkar and Pete Sampras… But somehow, a cricket ground still pulls me, so here I am. After retirement, I wanted a career in sport,” Ganguly concluded.

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