Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of his Test debut. He announced his arrival at the international level with a debut century at Lord’s. He has come a long way since, now handling administrative roles in the apex board.
Recently, he spoke about Test cricket being the biggest platform for a cricketer. He explained that people remember the names of those cricketers who leave a lasting impact on the longest format.
“Test cricket is the ultimate format. I feel if a player wants to be successful and leave his/her mark on the game, then Test cricket is the biggest platform one can get. People will remember those players forever, who play well and make runs in Test matches. If you see the biggest names in cricket in the past 40-50 years – They’ve all had successful records,” Ganguly said.
It has been a fantastic journey – Sourav Ganguly
‘Dada’, as he’s affectionately known, made his debut in the second Test of a 3-match Test series against England. Ganguly scored a brilliant 131 in his debut innings at Lord’s, which was the highest score of a debutant at the venue before Devon Conway recently broke the record. Speaking about the innings, Ganguly said:
“They say it can’t get better and the mindset of that Test match was remarkable. As you said, at the back-stands you get cheers for every shot you hit and then finishing on 100* at Tea time was special.”
Ganguly is the Greatest Captain of Indian Cricket Team.
Dhoni is the captain of Greatest Indian Cricket Team.
Case closed !!!
— 🏌️ (@Plant_Warrior) June 23, 2021
Sourav Ganguly was entrusted with the responsibility of captaining the side after a match-fixing scandal in 2000. He went on to become one of India’s most successful captains, setting a benchmark for future players to follow. He was nostalgic about the journey and was proud that India’s revolution in world cricket started under his captaincy.
“The entire journey – making a debut at Lord’s to getting a 100. Then captaining India, getting to build a team – probably people rated as good as anybody in the world. Then giving the captaincy off to somebody and seeing the national team develop, becoming a force all around the world – that started under your captaincy.”
The former skipper was always passionate about Indian cricket. So he didn’t stop associating himself with the game he loved once he retired from playing. He took on administrative roles, initially at the Cricket Association of Bengal, before becoming the president of BCCI.
“Being in an administrative role, trying to change the game – I feel very fortunate that during my tenure as President, India won in Australia in a remarkable series. It has been a fantastic journey and as sportsman, as a cricketer, you don’t expect anything better than this,” Ganguly concluded.
