Sourav Ganguly Finally Reveals Why He Made Steve Waugh Wait For Toss In 2001 Test Series

The 2001 Test series will always hold a very important place in the history of Indian cricket. The historic series win over Australia not only instilled confidence in Team India but also established Sourav Ganguly as captain. Australia were the firm favourites to win the three-match series.

The all-conquering Australian side had arrived in India on the back of 15 consecutive Test wins. And when they beat India by ten wickets in the first Test in Mumbai, it looked like the visitors would make light work of the hosts in the other two Tests.

However, the Sourav Ganguly-led side stunned everyone by beating Australia in the next two games to win the series. The series is also remembered for Sourav Ganguly’s mind games. The former India captain had managed to get under the skin of his Australian counterpart Waugh with his tactics.

Waugh has stated several times that he was annoyed by Sourav Ganguly in the 2001 series as he used to come late for the toss. The former Aussie batsman has maintained that it was against etiquette for the India star to do so. And Sourav Ganguly recently opened up on the episode.

In a recent conversation with India batsman Mayank Agarwal on the latest episode of ‘Open Nets with Mayank’, he explained his side of the story. In a video uploaded on BCCI official Twitter webiste, he maintained that it was an accident as he left his blazer in the dressing room.

“It was an accident actually. In the first Test match, I left my blazer in the dressing room. They were such a good side and I was really nervous in that series because it was my first big series as captain. Last 25-30 years I haven’t seen a team as good as Australia I that generation.

“Initially, I forgot my blazer in the first test but then I realized that he reacted to it. It was working on them, working on the team, and how they went about their jobs. They were a bit grumpy with all that and it worked for us as we won the series 2-1,” Sourav Ganguly told Mayank.

“Having said that, Steve Waugh is a friend and I have tremendous respect for him as a cricketer. It was all in good humour,” he added.

Recently, former England skipper Nasser Hussain had also talked about Sourav Ganguly coming late for the toss and how he hated him for that.

“Sourav’s like that. When I played against Sourav, I hated him, he used to make me wait for the toss every single time and I’ll be like, Ganguly, it’s 10.30, we have to toss,” Hussain said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.

“But now I work with him for the last decade on commentary, he’s such a nice, calm, he’s still late for his commentary stints, but he is a lovely bloke. And that’s the way cricketers should be. When you play with him or against him, you don’t like him and when you meet up with him later in life, they’re nice people,” he added.

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