Sourav Ganguly, a former captain of the Indian cricket team, said on Friday that he preferred opening the batting with Sachin Tendulkar over Virender Sehwag because Sachin helped him become a better player. He was addressing at the annual NATCON 2022 conference of CREDAI, the leading organisation for realtors. Ganguly was questioned during a rapid-fire round moderated by Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri about which of Sachin and Sehwag he preferred to open the innings with.
“Sachin was the most sane one and Sehwag was insane. So it’s Sachin. He actually also made me a better player,” he said. “Sachin actually got me lift my game.” To another question, which living person he admired the most, Ganguly against chose to name the little master. “Sachin. He was special and I have seen him up close. I have seen him hit in rib cage. Did not make a noise. Got runs. The next morning he had a double fracture in ribs.
“I heard a sound and I went and asked him you are okay. He said he was fine. The next morning he had fractures. He was special,” he said. He said that the test in Australia was more difficult than the test in England. When given the choice between being the BCCI President and India’s cricket team captain, Ganguly opted to take the latter position. When asked to pick between India’s victories at home in the Natwest Cup final at Lords in 2002 and India’s victory in the Kolkata test in 2001, he responded: “2001 win at home as it changed the team. It changed the belief in team.”
Muralidharan, a spinner for Sri Lanka, was mentioned by Ganguly as someone who gave him nightmares, particularly given his advanced age. “Older he became, the better he became. I found Murali the hardest when he was older,” Ganguly said. Ganguly spoke extensively about leadership prior to the rapid fire and stressed the value of paying attention to others. “It’s not my way or highway,” he said and cited several examples. Ganguly spoke extensively about leadership prior to the rapid fire and stressed the value of paying attention to others.