Sourav Ganguly Recalls 'Fixing' In Team, Approached Sachin, Dravid: "Kisi Ne Poocha?"
Sourav Ganguly took over Team India's captaincy during one of the most tumultuous times in the country's sporting history.
One of the greatest captains the sport of cricket has seen, Sourav Ganguly is a man credited with transforming the game in India, especially after he took over the reins in the year 2000. Ganguly took up the role after Indian cricket had been hit by a match-fixing scandal and was tasked with not just helping the team move on, but also preparing a bunch of young stars to compete at the highest level. During a podcast, Ganguly opened up on captaining India for the first time and addressing the 'match-fixing' talks that had even entered the team's dressing room.
Speaking to Raj Shamani on his podcast, Ganguly said that he had no idea Indian players were approached to do 'match-fixing'. He spoke to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, asking them if any of them had been approached by someone to do such a thing.
"The issues that the Indian team faced just before I became captain - betting, match-fixing - I didn't even know about these things. I kept asking Sachin [Tendulkar] and Rahul [Dravid] 'Does it actually happen? Has anyone approached you?' Because no one had approached me. So, I spoke to Sachin, 'Tujhe kisi ne poocha?' He said no. We all used to play both formats - Tests and one-dayers. Asked Anil [Kumble] too, he said 'No. Nobody asked me'. So, I wasn't too sure what it even was. That [captaincy] was the job in hand. So, I didn't have these things in mind," Ganguly opened up on the Raj Shamani podcast.
Ganguly was 27 years old when he was given Team India's captaincy. As is the captain's role, he had to brief the team, including the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Tendulkar - two players under whom he had played in the past. Hence, he was nervous when his time came to give a dressing room talk to the boys.
"I still remember our first match was in Kochi. On the eve of the game, I had to address the team meeting. I told Dona that many of these guys - Azhar, Sachin - had been my captains. How was I supposed to tell them what to do and what not to do? I still remember telling her I would keep the meeting short because the longer it went on, the more I'd have to speak. So we wrapped it up in about 15 minutes and I quickly got a few things across. The next day, we won. In the following match in Jamshedpur, I scored a hundred. Slowly, everything started falling into place," he revealed.
India Cricket Team
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar