Words from Imran Khan helped Sourav Ganguly revive his career after fallout with Chappell

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly had an illustrious international career. He is often hailed as the team builder of the national side who backed the young players in the early 2000s. Ever since his debut at Lords, where he scored a ton, Ganguly only kept growing strength to strength. However, the law of averages seemed to have caught up towards the fag end of his career.

His infamous fallout with the then Indian coach Greg Chappell saw him being excluded from the side. Recently, as per the quotes in IBTimes, Sourav Ganguly recalled the time when he was dropped from the side. He noted that it does not happen with every successful cricketer that he goes from riches to rags in a few days. From being captain of the team to not being picked in the side, the times were tough for him.

“From 1995 to early 2006 the graph was only up. I never missed a series, I was the captain of India for six years. And the world was at my feet. And suddenly you did not find yourself in the team. Not many captains in world cricket would go from not being captain to not even finding a position in the side. You look at MS Dhoni he is not the captain of the Indian team but look at the way Virat Kohli looks after him. Look at the way they go about the job,” quoted Sourav Ganguly.

Imran Khan’s help

Ganguly remarked that that the tough phase helped him evolve as a person. He also credited former Pakistani captain, Imran Khan, for reviving his career in the national side. He revealed the words that Imran Khan had told him back then. Those words motivated him big time and that helped him stage a comeback to the Indian team.

“It was tough but it made me a better person. I once met Imran Khan in Lahore during that period. He was actually following Indian cricket. We have a fantastic relationship, Imran and myself. We don’t keep in touch much. He said something to me which I always remember in life. When you fly high and see dark clouds you find a way to fly higher. I remembered those words during that period,” mentioned Ganguly.

‘So angry that I kept running’

Speaking further on the forgettable times, Sourav Ganguly remarked that there arrived a stage when he got very angry for not being picked up in the side. He noted that he had been scoring runs but still did not find a place in the side. Recalling one such moment, he noted that he ended up running at the Eden Gardens endlessly out of mere anger. He trained very hard during that phase of his life.

“I trained hard. I used to come to Eden Gardens. One day I got so angry because I wasn’t getting picked and did not know the reason for not getting picked because I was scoring runs everywhere. In those 10 years I scored 10 and half thousand runs. I scored more than Sachin Tendulkar in one-day cricket during that period. But I never got picked in one-day cricket. So I did not know what to do,” said the former captain.

“I was so angry that I started running at Eden Gardens. It was about 2006. I kept running at Eden Gardens. I kept running, running and running till I finished 21 laps. The last six or seven were just out of anger,” he added.