Sourav Ganguly reveals why he used to back Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh

Ganguly, along with Sehwag and Yuvraj were present at the launch of his autobiography.

Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly | IANS

Virender Sehwag, along with Yuvraj Singh was present at the launch of Sourav Ganguly's book 'A Century is not Enough' launch when he made a statement that the former India skipper will be the chief minister and president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. 

Sehwag believes in Ganguly's leadership quality. "Dada (Ganguly) will 100 per cent become the chief minister of Bengal one day. But before that he will become the president of BCCI," Sehwag said.

Recalling his playing days, Sehwag said that Ganguly used to make him pack his kit bag. "Dada used to get us to pack his kit bag when we came into the side. He used to rush for the press conferences immediately after the match and would ask us to get his kit bag packed. But that's how it happens. Even Dhoni used to get his kit bag packed," he said. 

Countering it, Ganguly said the anecdote is partially correct. "That story is not completely correct. Actually, I had to rush for the press conferences, and Yuvraj had to go out for night-outs and didn't want to get late. So there was a hidden motive to it. So Yuvraj would quickly get my kit bag ready after we finished our game," said Ganguly.

Yuvraj and Sehwag were clear about their thoughts that Ganguly backed them during their tough days. "When I arrived into the scene, Dada said 'after a long time, we have a good fielder in the Indian team.' After a couple of good knocks, I failed in the following innings and struggled against spin. But he (Ganguly) backed me because he knew that I was a match-winner," said Yuvraj.

Ganguly also made his point on why he backed the likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan, and Sehwag, "Yuvraj, Viru and Harbhajan were always talented, and I knew that. First thing I had to do was to get that fear of failure out of their minds because when I came into the side, I faced that situation (fear of failure)."

"I remember once selectors told me not to take Viru to South Africa (2001) because he is not a good player of fast bowling. But I insisted on him taking along and he scored a Test century on debut at Bloemfontein," Ganguly said.

Sehwag wants Indian coaches for Indian cricket team. When asked about it, he said, "Absolutely, in 2007-08, Lalchand Rajput was our coach and we won the CB series and then the World T20. Coaches should be man managers. That was the reason why Gary Kirsten was so successful. With him, it was like I will discuss this issue with you only if it remains between the two of us. Now, I am the mentor of Kings XI Punjab and know how things work," he said. 

 
 

By - 01 May, 2018

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