Ganguly also revealed how he cajoled Rahul Dravid into becoming India head coach.
He was removed as ODI captain by the selection panel despite his eagerness to continue as the selectors didn’t want split captaincy in two white-ball formats. Rohit Sharma, who was the vice-captain, then took over as India captain in all formats.
After a heartbreaking loss in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022, Rohit Sharma led India to Asia Cup 2023 victory and is captaining India in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
India has been an unbeaten run in the CWC 2023 under Rohit’s leadership, winning all 8 games thus far in dominating fashion as well. India has qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament and will most likely play the knockout game in Mumbai.
But now, Sourav Ganguly, who was the BCCI President when Virat Kohli stepped down as T20I and Test captain and was removed as ODI captain, revealed that Rohit Sharma was not ready to take over as India skipper in all three formats initially.
"Rohit Sharma wasn't keen (on taking up India's captaincy in all three formats). It had gone to a stage where I told him 'You'll have to say yes otherwise I'll make the announcement.' Because he is an outstanding captain. And after Virat Kohli left, he was the best man to lead India. I am not surprised by what I am seeing," Ganguly said in a chat with Kolkata TV.
Ganguly was confident that Rohit Sharma would be a good leader, as he had previously won India the Nidahas tri-series T20 trophy in Sri Lanka and the 2018 Asia Cup when Virat Kohli was rested from the team. He has also led Mumbai Indians to 5 IPL titles as well.
Ganguly said Rohit's reluctance stemmed from a busy workload. He was already 33, playing non-stop cricket, but thankfully, he made the right and wise decision.
"Lot of cricket; Tests, ODIs, T20, IPL – he was already a captain there, lot of pressure. So he had a lot on his plate. But nothing can be bigger than being an India captain. I am happy that he took it and it makes me glad to see the results," added Ganguly.
But BCCI didn’t have many options to choose from and Dravid finally said yes as it would lead to the betterment of Indian cricket.
"It's a lot of time on the road. He has a young family, and two young kids. Plus, he played cricket all his life. So it's not easy coaching but he agreed thinking about Indian cricket and I wish he does it in the future too. A coach needs to be given time; it isn't magic for a coach to produce instant results in 3-4 months. He needs time to turn things around which he has now, the second year in his tenure," Ganguly said as he hailed Dravid.
Both Rohit and Dravid have gone on to form a brilliant partnership, which is benefitting India in all aspects.
(Hindustan Times inputs)