Sourav Ganguly made India a tougher side, states Nasser Hussain
It was Sourav Ganguly who changed the way India played their cricket and made India a tougher side, former England skipper Nasser Hussain stated. Sourav Ganguly was known for backing young talented players and it was him who backed players like Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, etc. and turned them into world-class players.
Sourav Ganguly also made India believe that they had the potential to win Tests on foreign soil. India also managed to draw series with Australia and England winning one Test each and also managed to beat Pakistan in their own den in 2004. Thus, Hussain believes that Sourav Ganguly revolutionized Indian cricket.
"I have always said, and this is a generalisation, but I have always said about Ganguly, that he made India a tougher side. So, before Ganguly, there were very talented side, but you felt they were also a nice side – very down to earth, would meet you with morning greetings, morning Nasser, it was a very pleasant experience," Nasser Hussain added.
"Playing against a Ganguly side, you knew you were in a battle, you knew that Ganguly understood the passion of Indian cricket fans and it wasn’t just a game of cricket. It was more important than a game of cricket. He was feisty and he picked feisty cricketers whether it would be Harbhajan or Yuvraj or whoever – feisty in-your-face cricketers – that when you met him away from the game, were lovely, nice," Hussain said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.
When I played against Sourav Ganguly, I hated him: Nasser Hussain
Hussain also spoke about how Sourav Ganguly used to annoy him by being late for the toss and that is why he used to hate the former Indian captain. But while doing commentary, he realized that Sourav Ganguly was a very nice man and he cherished all the moments that they shared off the field.
Sourav Ganguly was a very passionate leader and in the heat of the moment he used to have a war of words with opponents. But off the field, he was a gentleman and was calm and composed, something that Hussain believes every cricketer should be.