Madan Lal reveals his crucial role in promoting Sourav Ganguly as an opener
Former coach and selector of the Indian cricket team, Madan Lal revealed how he promoted Sourav Ganguly to the top of the order, despite the southpaw having slotted into the No.5 position.
In a live chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda's Facebook page, Lal explained that Sourav Ganguly's talent at number five was being seriously wasted and the classy left-hander needed more deliveries to make a mark at the international level.
It was during Lal's tenure as coach of the Indian cricket team that Sourav Ganguly was given the freedom to go hammer and tongs at the top of the order and post the move to the top, the southpaw never looked back once. Lal also praised the innate qualities of Sourav Ganguly that helped him settle at the highest level with ease.
"We wanted to utilise Dada. I said to dada, 'Nothing is going to happen if you are batting at number five, you should open the innings'... He never looked back once he started opening the innings. Sachin and Ganguly made history while opening together," Lal said.
Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar created history with their opening partnerships
In 236 innings as an opener in ODI cricket, Sourav Ganguly scored 9146 runs that included 19 hundreds and 58 centuries at a phenomenal average of 41.57.
Sourav Ganguly enjoyed herculean success along with Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the order. From 176 innings, the pair made 8227 runs, including 26 century partnerships and 29 fifty-run stands.
The pair's best effort together was the 258-run partnership in 2001 against Kenya at the Bolland Park. They opened together for the last time in 2007 in an ODI against Pakistan in Gwalior in which Tendulkar missed his ton by just three runs.
Between 2000 to 2007, the dynamic Indian pair added 3520 runs from 67 ODIs.