Sourav Ganguly reveals his toughest decision as the captain of India

When you hear someone talk about former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, a mention of his roller-coaster international career becomes obvious. Ganguly is one of India’s most successful captains and often gets the credit for leading his men to victories on foreign soil.

Known as the ‘Prince of Kolkata,’ Ganguly hanged up his boots on his terms after an impressive Test series against Australia in 2008. Since then, he has been actively involved in administration and has given back to the game. In a candid interview, Ganguly recalled the toughest decision he had to make during his captaincy days.

Ganguly’s toughest call

Ahead of the eventful 2003 World Cup finals in Johannesburg, India had a tough job in hand, taking on a strong Australian side. Skipper Ganguly had to take a call on the playing XI, and he dropped Anil Kumble for the finals. The news made it to the front pages next morning, and Ganguly has revealed that it was the toughest call.

“Leaving out Kumble from the first eleven (has to be the toughest decision). He was such a great player and such a great performer, so to take the decision of leaving him out was the toughest decision,” Ganguly told Sportstar during an exclusive chat.

Ganguly’s autobiography ‘A Century is Not Enough,’ co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya has hit the stands. The 45-year-old has revealed many of his topsy-turvy moments in blue. He also took a dig at Kolkata Knight Riders’ former coach John Buchanan, who introduced the multi-captain theory.

“The multiple captaincy theory came in as a surprise. That is something many of us did not have a clue of. I think the theory was a bit of surprise for all of us, but then, that’s the way it is,” Ganguly says, he added: “There are certain things you embrace and there are certain things that you have to keep it for the first time.”

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