Did Sourav Ganguly take a dig at Ravi Shastri?
In the wake of India’s poor show in overseas tours, coach Ravi Shastri has faced much criticism over his involvement in the team. At the launch event of his book, A Century is not Enough, former India captain Sourav Ganguly opined that cricket is a ‘captain’s game’ and the coach usually takes a ‘back seat.’ We wonder if one of India’s most successful captains just took a pot shot at the current coach.
Former Indian Cricketer Sourav Ganguly looks on during a panel discussion for the Surf Excel campaign launch in Mumbai on November 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Sujit Jaiswal
"It is not like football. A lot of current cricket coaches think that they are going to run a cricket team like a football team, but cricket is a captain's game and coach has to take a backseat and that is important," said Dada. Talking about the best advice he’s received during his stint as a player, Ganguly said, ‘Never pick a coach.’
Former Indian cricketers Sourav Ganguly (R) and Sachin Tendulkar (C) along with co-author Gautam Bhattacharya (L) attend the launch of Ganguly's autobiography "A Century is Not Enough" in Mumbai on April 4, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / INDRANIL MUKHERJEE
It is no secret that Ganguly and Shastri share a less than cordial relationship. The pair had earlier butted heads during the selection of Shastri as the coach for India. While Ganguly opposed Shastri’s election, the latter accused Sourav of missing out on the selection process. Sourav countered that Shastri was vacationing in Bangkok when the Cricket Advisory Committee was interviewing him.
India's Virat Kohli(R)and former captain Saurav Ganguly share a light moment during a training session at The Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on March 18, 2016.
/ AFP PHOTO / STR
More recently, Shastri had revealed that he once made the team bus leave without Ganguly, as he was late. Ganguly later clarified in an interview that the incident ‘never happened’, but added some fuel to fire. "You don't interview him [Shastri] in the morning, don't bring him on the breakfast show he wouldn't remember what he said,” quipped Sourav, on Breakfast with Champions.
