Not ideal to have seven captains in short span but it was an unavoidable situation: Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that it is not ideal to have seven different Indian captains in seven series, but it has happened due to “unavoidable” situations. Since Virat Kohli stepped down from India’s captaincy, it has gone to Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.

The next in line is Shikhar Dhawan, who is set to lead the ODI team on the upcoming West Indies tour. Ganguly explained that before the ODI series on the South Africa tour, Rohit got injured, and Rahul filled in for him. And in the T20I series against the Proteas last month, Rahul was set to lead but then got injured, and the skipper duties were discharged by Pant.

“I fully agree that it is not ideal to have seven different captains in such a short span of time but it has happened because of unavoidable situation,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by the Times of India. “Like Rohit was all set to lead in South Africa in white-ball but before the tour, got injured. So we had KL (Rahul) leading in ODIs and then for this recent SA home series, KL got injured one day before the series would start,” he added. 

The more you play, the better you get and fitter you become: Sourav Ganguly

When asked if having a crammed schedule is prompting players to take too many breaks, Ganguly opined that the more one plays, the better it is as the players need game time to improve. “Let me tell you something which I have believed all through my international career. The more you play, the better you get and fitter you become.” 

“At this level, you need game time and your body becomes stronger as you start playing more and more games,” said the former India captain. When asked if he misses being part of the dressing room and being part of the team, he said that he never missed anything as everything has to come to an end, adding that times changes, and so does the roles.

“I had a great career and it was time to move on and I was glad that I finished on a high. In life, the only constant is to keep moving,” added the BCCI president, as he celebrates his 50th birthday on July 8, Friday.