Ganguly was asked to captain India for one last time during final moments of 2008 Nagpur Test.
MS Dhoni talked about asking Sourav Ganguly to lead the Indian side for a few moments in his farewell Test match against Australia in 2008. Ganguly, considered to be one of the greatest captains India has ever had, played his final Test for India in Nagpur in 2008.
Ganguly had already announced that the four-Test series against Australia in 2008 would be his final one for India and when it all came down to the final moments of the fourth and final Test in Nagpur, MS Dhoni asked Ganguly to captain the side for one last time.
During a promotional event, Dhoni revealed that the occasion was unplanned and that there could not have been a finer way to bid farewell to one of India's greatest leaders.
"Being one of the greatest captains that India has ever produced, what better farewell can you give from your side. Last day (of his career), he is standing on a Test match field, playing the game. If he can say 'goodbye' leading for a while, then why not. It doesn't really change the result of the game. That was the reason behind it,” Dhoni said.
India won the Test by 172 runs to clinch the four-match series 2-0. Ganguly scored 85 in the first innings but was dismissed for a golden duck in the second.
"I don't know whether he (Ganguly) enjoyed it (captaining the side in the last few minutes of the match) or not because it came all of a sudden. It wasn't planned, like 'this is what you should do'. I thought this was the best way for him to give a farewell, leading on the field. Even if it is for 15-20 minutes, why not!" concluded Dhoni.
Ganguly played 113 Tests and scored 7212 runs at an average of 42.17, including 16 hundreds and 35 fifties. He also played 311 ODIs, scoring a mammoth 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 with 22 centuries and 72 fifties to his name.