Ahead of Sourav Ganguly’s 50th birthday, Sachin Tendulkar recollects old memories
The Hindu
As BCCI president Sourav Ganguly turns 50 on Friday, his former opening partner Sachin Tendulkar shares insights into their friendship and how he foresaw Ganguly as captain of the Indian cricket team
For three and a half decades, Sachin Tendulkar has seen Sourav Ganguly in various avatars — a precocious teenager, a talented India contender, a stylish batter, a leader and a busy administrator. But for India's greatest ever batter, what has stood the test of time is their friendship which is still intact and solid, long after they have both stopped playing international cricket.
As the BCCI president turns 50 on Friday, his "opening partner" opened up with PTI, sharing many insights into their friendship and how he looked at Ganguly as a future captain when he himself was leading India.
Ask him how much freedom Ganguly gave his players during his near five-year tenure as skipper, Tendulkar was effusive in his praise. "Sourav was a great captain. He knew how to maintain a balance — between giving freedom to the players and giving them certain responsibilities," Tendulkar told PTI. "When he took over, Indian cricket was in a transition phase. We needed the next bunch of players who could set a platform for propelling India forward."
Tendulkar feels that Ganguly gave a lot of world class players wings to fly and carve their own niche. "At that time, we found top class players — Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra to name a few. They were gifted players, but even gifted players need support at the start of their careers, which Sourav provided.
"While their roles were defined in the team, they also got the freedom required to express themselves," he said.
The master batter revealed how before the 1999 tour of Australia, which was his second-last series as captain, Tendulkar in his mind was clear, who was ready to take over in case he decided to step down from captaincy.
"Before stepping down, during India's tour of Australia in which I was the captain, I had suggested Sourav to be made the vice-captain of the team," Tendulkar revealed. "I had seen him from close quarters, played cricket with him, and knew he had the right qualities to take Indian cricket forward. He was a good leader. I therefore recommended his name.