Sourav Ganguly, the current BCCI president said he never tried to compete with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, or Rahul Dravid.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, known as one of the most fierce Indian captains and a force to be reckoned with in the world of cricket, shared his leadership mantras and management principles from his time on the field, to eventually leading team India.
Sourav Ganguly: There’s A Difference Between Being A Captain And A Leader
Sourav Ganguly made both his Test and ODI debut under the captaincy of Mohammed Azharuddin in 1992 and 1996 respectively. He went on to play 65 matches total- 12 Tests and 53 ODI’s in his able leadership.
“There is a difference between being a captain and a leader, in a titular position as a captain, how did you make the seniors, and the youngsters believe in your leadership. Captaincy, to me, is leading a team on the ground, and leadership, to me, is building a team.
“So, whether I worked with Sachin, Azhar, or Dravid, I didn’t compete with them; instead, I collaborated with them as leaders and shared responsibility,” Sourav Ganguly said in a conversation with Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media, President, Times Strategic Solutions Limited at an exclusive gathering organized by The Economic Times India Leadership Council.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly said he never competed with his teammates and shared the responsibility with them. Sourav Ganguly led the Indian team in 195 matches in Tests and One-Day Internationals between 1999 and 2005. Under his leadership, India won 97 games in the two oldest formats.
Sourav Ganguly Reckons He Has Seen The Actual Transformation Of Cricket Over Time As He Felt There Wasn’t Any Shortage Of Talent
Sourav Ganguly, who is still regarded as one of the best captains of India, said he had played with great players who could have gone to captain the country at any point in time.
“I have seen the actual transformation of cricket over time. There were people with different mindsets, and I realised very early on that there was no shortage of talent within the team.”
“But talent without exposure is nothing. I had some great players under me who could have gone on to become captain at any time, and I was fortunate enough to meet those great players, so I saw it not only as an honour but also as an opportunity to change things, to make it an even platform for everyone to express themselves.
“When you selected an individual, you firstly selected them based on their abilities, and second, you selected them to succeed. And for me, their career was as important as mine because I know what it took to get here, to represent India,” Ganguly added.
On being asked about what’s common in being captain and managing BCCI, Sourav replied, “I believe that the common thing is managing individuals. This country has exceptional talent, ranging from young players to young corporate employees.
“I genuinely believed that if I wanted to be the captain of a successful team, I had to respect my colleagues so that they could become good players, and that it’s never the other way around; you can’t keep everything to yourself and expect good things to happen; it won’t happen,” he added.
Sourav Ganguly was often known for his aggressive mindset on the pitch, be it waving his shirt, bare-chested, at the Lord’s balcony after India’s triumphant in the Natwest series final in 2002, or just say his feud with then-head coach Greg Chappell which was scripted as one of the ugliest chapters in Indian cricket.
Sourav Ganguly retired from all formats of cricket in October 2012 and started a new journey as a cricket administrator. He served as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal for four years from 2015-to 2019 and in October 2019 was appointed as the president of BCCI.