5 most controversial statements made by Sourav Ganguly
Since his playing days, Sourav Ganguly has always worn his heart on his sleeve. Who can forget his antics of making the great Steve Waugh wait for the toss of the coin during Australia's famous tour of India that the hosts won by a margin of 2-1.
Ganguly has had his share of controversies over the past two decades, be it with Greg Chappell or the indirect tussle with Virat Kohli when he was at the helm of BCCI.
On that note, here is a look at five controversial statements made by Sourav Ganguly:
#1 A dig at the critics after India won the T20 World Cup 2024
The former BCCI President lashed out at his critics after India's success in the T20 World Cup 2024.
In a conversation with Ajkaal on July 13, 2024, Ganguly stated:
""When I handed Rohit Sharma the captaincy of the Indian team, everyone criticised me. Now that India has won the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, everyone has stopped abusing me for it. "
He further added:
"In fact, I think everyone has forgotten that it was I who appointed him as the captain of the Indian team."
For the record, under Ganguly's tenure as the BCCI President, Rohit Sharma was appointed as a skipper across all formats, and the said decision paid rich dividends as team India lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 after staying unbeaten throughout the tournament.
#2 On Virat Kohli once he relinquished his captaincy in 2021
Virat Kohli decided to relinquish his T20I captaincy post the T20 World Cup 2021. He was thereafter removed from captaincy in the 50-over format before the star batter stepped down from Test captaincy at the beginning of 2022.
Sourav Ganguly was the BCCI President when Kohli decided to give up the captaincy in T20Is. Kohli was interested in captaining India in ODIs but it was not to be.
Ganguly, in a reality show Dadagiri Unlimited Season 10, touched upon the topic and stated:
"I didn't remove Virat from captaincy. I have said this several times. He (Kohli) was not interested to lead in T20Is. So, after he made that decision, I told him, if you're not interested to lead in T20Is, it's better if you step down from entire white-ball cricket formats. Let there be a white-ball captain and a red-ball captain."
#3 Ricky Ponting's sacking as the head coach of Delhi Capitals
Ricky Ponting has been sacked as the head coach of Delhi Capitals after his association with the franchise for seven years. The said news was made official today i.e. on July 14, 2024.
However, it was Sourav Ganguly who broke the news of the sacking of Ricky Ponting on July 13, 2024, on Aajkaal. He stated:
"Let me break a news. head Ricky Ponting will not be the coach of Delhi Capitals. Geoffrey Boycott was right, as Ponting has not been able to take the franchise forward in the past 7 years. I have to speak with the franchise and ask them to look at Indian coaches. I will be the head coach. Let's see how I perform."
#4 An indirect dig at wives and girlfriends
In a public event in Gurgaon in December 2021, the former Indian skipper was questioned as to how he dealt with stress in life. Ganguly, the then BCCI President jokingly said:
"There is no stress in life. Only wife and girlfriend give stress."
Though the above statement was made in jest, it did not go down well with cricket fans. Ganguly was criticized on social media and was termed as a sexist for his comment.
#5 Greg Chappell controversy
The Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly controversy was all over the news in the mid-2000s. Ganguly was sacked as the Indian skipper and Rahul Dravid was appointed as the captain of the Indian team when Greg Chappell was the coach. Eventually, Ganguly was dropped from the Indian team before he made a strong comeback in 2006.
As a cricket expert, Ganguly did not mince words while recalling the Chappel era on Headlines Today in 2011. He quoted:
"Because of Greg Chappell the dressing room was divided. Rahul Dravid is such type of a person who wants that everything goes smoothly. He knew that things were going wrong, but he had no courage to revolt and tell him (Chappell) that he was doing wrong."
Ganguly criticized then-Indian skipper Rahul Dravid for not backing him in 2005 when he was dropped from the Indian team.