While what Buchanan thinks of Sourav Ganguly’s Twenty20 stint is now known to the world, not many would know that the erstwhile coach of Kolkata Knight Riders had asked the southpaw to step down after the first season of the Indian Premier League.
In his book ‘’The Future of Cricket: The rise of Twenty20’, Buchanan revealed advising the Bengal boy to step down even as Dada refused to give away.
Read the excerpts mentioned below:
“At the end of the (inaugural IPL) tournament I told something he did not want to hear. ‘I really think your game was off the pace and the more you play T20, the more harm you will do yourself,’ I told him. Sourav responded to my frank assessment by claiming he had at least one more year of 20-over cricket in him. He told me his main aim was to get into the Test side against Australia, an aim he did achieve before announcing his Test retirement. He basically said to me ‘Thank you for your concerns, but I don’t agree with what you are saying’— Buchanan wrote.
The ex-Australian coach pointed out that the format of T20 was tad too late for players like Ganguly. “…Ganguly had created an incredible brand for himself in India. It might seem strange, but this is why I question his suitability for and need to play T20. I am concerned that he will erode his brand, his stature, by playing in the IPL,” Buchanan pointed out.
Not surprisingly, Buchanan finds Ganguly to be a man of contradictions but also interestingly mentions him to be a fascinating leader.
“Our captain Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, or Dada as he is affectionately nicknamed, is a fascinating character, a man of contradictions. I am sure psychologists would find him intriguing,” wrote the 56-year-old.
“I found him a gentleman to work with yet I finished the tournament still feeling I didn’t know him,” he said. Buchanan also tried to explain Ganguly’s habit of turning late at toss in the 2004 series against Australia which infuriated rival captain Steve Waugh.
“I went into the IPL with an open mind about Sourav, who had been an antagonist of Australian sides I coached. He is a lovely person but he lives in his own world. He used to drive Stephen Waugh crazy by being late for the toss. That might have been partly strategic, but also he was simply unaware of its importance. He would be in the rooms, in his own world, when he would be told it was time for the toss. He would not be ready and would have to get changed before meeting his by-now irritated opposing captain,” he said.
Buchanan remarked that Dada’s habit of irritating the opposition was not always pre-meditated. “Ganguly has always had the ability to mentally unsettle his opponents. It was not always by design but Waugh saw it as lack of respect and common courtesy. At times, I feel Sourav is guilty of that, but on the other occasions, I believe he is simply in his own world and loses track of time. He gives off impression that everything will happen in good time, but it will be in his good time. He is not too concerned about other people’s views about him…that is not to say he is arrogant. I have always found him very humble, polite and respectful, but to have him somewhere arrive on time… Well, let’s just say he was mercurial,” he wrote.
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