“He jumped with 2 coffee cups in hand and came to meet me. I was shocked” - Saqlain Mushtaq on the conversation that changed his perception of Sourav Ganguly
Former off-spinner and Pakistan head coach Saqlain Mushtaq has revealed that he had a misconception about Sourav Ganguly being an egoistic person. He admitted that a 40-minute conversation over a cup of coffee changed his entire perception of Ganguly as a human being.
Mushtaq and Ganguly were part of the famous 2003-04 series played in Pakistan. The former had just recovered from a knee operation and was playing in a side game against the Indian team when they were in England not long after.
Speaking on Sportskeeda’s SK Tales, Mushtaq recalled his early impression of Ganguly. Here's what he said about the former India captain:
“There are some people with whom you don’t feel like talking or interacting. During our playing days, initially I had that feeling for Sourav Ganguly. He was India’s captain and a legend without doubt. However, whenever we met, it was always “hello”, “hi” and nothing more. I had a feeling that he thinks very highly of himself.”
On how an interaction over coffee completely changed his view of Ganguly as a person, the current Pakistan head coach elaborated:
“After my knee operation in 2003-04, Ganguly was there on that tour and Sachin Tendulkar as well. Sachin had just had an elbow injury. I was playing a side match against India. It was my first match after rehab and I had to play county for Sussex.
“Believe me, Ganguly brought two cups of coffee. The roofs of the two dressing rooms were together. There was just a small wall in between. You could either jump or come from behind. He jumped with two coffee cups in hands and came to meet me. I was shocked and was wondering what he was doing here.”
Saqlain added that the two chatted for about 40 minutes. The 45-year-old admitted:
“That changed my perception of Ganguly. I felt ashamed regarding my misconception of such a nice human. I never had a conversation with him before and assumed that he was a strange person and had an ego.”
Incidentally, Ganguly was captain of India during the 2003-04 tour of Pakistan, which was also Mushtaq’s last series as an international cricketer.
“While Ganguly was going back, I said sorry to him” - Saqlain Mushtaq
The former Pakistan off-spinner said that during the interaction, Ganguly inquired about his knee and gave him some guidance as well. Mushtaq even apologized to the Indian legend after the conversation. He recalled:
“During our chat, he asked about my knee and even guided and motivated me. We spoke about cricket and life and had some fun chat as well. While Ganguly was going back, I said sorry to him. I said, 'Sourav bhai, I had the wrong perception about you, but this meeting has completely changed that'.
“I told him, ‘I have become your fan as a human’. Of course, what he has done as a player, enough cannot be said about it. But after that chat, he had won my heart as a human too.”
Mushtaq played 49 Tests and 169 ODIs for Pakistan, claiming 208 and 288 wickets, respectively.