BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly said that "Indian cricket is in safe hands" as his former India teammates VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid are now set to "give their all" in two influential positions.
While Dravid takes over as the new head coach of the Indian team starting with the New Zealand T20I series, Laxman is all set to succeed Dravid as the chief at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Ganguly, who as Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president had roped in Laxman as the head of state unit's pilot project 'Vision 2020', knew his ability to work with junior players.
"I am very happy for them to be appointed as head coach and head of NCA because those are two very important positions in Indian cricket," Ganguly told PTI.
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Laxman as NCA head according to Ganguly will make a difference because he is a fantastic human being who has a certain stature in Indian cricket.
"Laxman's ability to be committed made us select him. He has always been a fantastic person to work with. From that point of view, his stature in Indian cricket is beyond everything. Rahul has put a system in place in NCA and obviously, that will help Laxman to carry forward the good work,” Ganguly added.
Ganguly also revealed that Laxman has sacrificed financially to take up the NCA chief job. He clarified that the Hyderabad native had to give up the mentor role with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to become the NCA head.
Apart from this, Laxman will no longer be able to continue doing commentary and other media jobs.
"He is shifting to Bangalore for the next three years from Hyderabad just to serve Indian cricket. It's remarkable. Of course, his earnings will drop but yeah, he has agreed. His wife and kids will also shift. His children will now study in a school in Bangalore and there will be a massive change as a family to shift base. It's not easy unless you are so devoted to Indian cricket," Ganguly lauded Laxman.
(PTI inputs)
