Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who is currently the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has recently talked about the duty of the captains.
Sourav Ganguly took up the regular captaincy role of the Indian team in 2000 when the team was going through the match-fixing controversy. Despite facing that tough period, Ganguly inspired the team with his never-give-up attitude and became one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket history.
While Ganguly led the team in 195 international matches, his team successfully managed to win 97 games. Under his captaincy, India won the NatWest Trophy 2002, ICC Champions Trophy 2002 (joint champions along with the hosts Sri Lanka), and many others. His team also finished as the runners-up in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.
Talking about the top leadership qualities, Ganguly feels that adaptability is one of the crucial points. Rather than changing the players’ quality, Ganguly believes in natural talent.
Ganguly recently said on Unacademy, “Adaptability is one of the key leadership qualities. A leader should tap the natural talents of the team members. You cannot make Rahul Dravid act like Yuvraj or make Yuvraj be Rahul Dravid.”
Learning from failures will lead you to success: Sourav Ganguly
Ganguly admitted that great leaders also make mistakes but always have the right intentions. He feels that great leaders learn from their mistakes and grow up to achieve better results.
The BCCI President added, “The greatest of the leaders make mistakes, but as long as the intentions are right, everything else will fall into place. You should learn from your own mistakes and leave them behind to be a better version of yourself. Don’t let your losses get you down, that’s a part of growing up. Learning from failures will lead you to success.”
Ganguly led the Indian team for the last time in 2005. Then he faced many ups and downs but continued to serve for the country till 2008. After finishing his cricket career in 2012, Ganguly has taken up the administrative roles of the Indian cricket. He first served as the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) before taking up the present responsibility as the BCCI President last October.