"I wish I'd Dhoni in my 2003 World Cup team", says Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, all across the globe is heralded for his exemplary brand of leadership. While the recent Indian team has scaled great heights, it’s Ganguly who is widely recognized as the leader who brought India back on world cricket map after a torrid time in the late 90s and early 2000s. Sourav Ganguly’s contribution as captain to Indian cricket has been imperative and the ripples it created have an impact still now.

The 45-year-old, in his autobiography ‘A Century is Not Enough’, has made many revelations from his playing days and the latest one to come out involves his first impression of his successor, MS Dhoni. The ‘Prince of Kolkata’ played his last Test in 2008 where India defeated Australia by 172 runs in Nagpur. The match didn’t just witness Ganguly strike a hundred but also saw the then captain Dhoni handing over the captaincy reins for one last time to the former. While the left-handed batsman had turned down the same offer earlier, he couldn’t turn it down for the second time and was hence seen changing the field settings for a brief period of time.

Ganguly‘s highlight during his reign as a skipper was when he took the Indian team to the final of the 2003 World Cup. Albeit the poor show which saw India got beaten by Australia in the summit clash, is still categorized as one of the finest Teams the nation has had. And Sourav believes, if he had Dhoni in his team in that tournament, things could just have been a little different.

Sourav Ganguly opens up about Dhoni

Ganguly wrote in his book, “I had over the years constantly looked out for players who remain steady under pressure and possess the capability to change the course of the match. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who came to my notice in 2004, was a natural progression of this thought. I was impressed with MS Dhoni from day one.”

He added, “I wish I’d Dhoni in my 2003 World Cup team. I was told that when we were playing the 2003 World Cup final he was still a ticket collector with Indian Railways. Unbelievable!”