Sourav Ganguly had once picked the coach for the Indian cricket team when he was the captain. And his decision, in 2005, to recommend Greg Chappell backfired as the Prince of Kolkata shared a frosty relationship with the Australian and was later dropped from the team.
Now, life has come a full circle as Ganguly is again entrusted with the responsibility of picking India’s next chief coach, and the former captain, wise from the earlier experience, insists he will not “mess up” this time.
“I once had an opportunity to select the coach. I thought I messed it up in 2005. I have been given that opportunity again. I had taken an interview (Chappell) once and it did not go off well,” Ganguly said during the launch of his book ‘A Century Is Not Enough’.
Ganguly hoped that the Cricket Advisory Committee will do it correctly now.
“Hopefully, we will do it correctly this time, whoever it is... Luckily, I’ve got support in Sachin, VVS, the BCCI secretary (Ajay Shirke) and the president (Anurag Thakur). Together, we will pick the right person,” said Ganguly.
Ganguly accepted that being the coach of the Indian team did cross his mind a couple of years back.
“To be honest, two and a half years ago, I was thinking myself whether I would want this job. Now, today, I’m selecting one. That’s how life is. I have not given an interview, hopefully I will give (the interview) one day...
“In life nothing is guaranteed, nobody knows what will happen one or two years later. Nobody thought I would be president of CAB and hosting a World Twenty20 final. That’s how life is, and you have to deal it.”
The former skipper said he didn’t sleep well last night, the eve of interviewing candidates; a feeling he last felt prior to his 1996 Test debut against England, at Lord’s.
“Yesterday night, I was not getting sleep when everyone was sleeping. I saw it (his hundred at Lord’s) on YouTube — a 12-minute video — and I fell asleep after that. I felt happy.
“I am a normal human being, who wanted to do well in a profession which I loved the most. That afternoon (at Lord’s) made me believe if I work hard, I’ve got it in me to play for the next 10 years.
“When I got my first Test hundred at Lord’s, I still remember the press conference. The first question was, ‘You answered your critics, what do you have to tell about that?’ But the first thing that came to my mind is that I belonged at this level.”
With inputs from agencies
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