CALCUTTA (India): Former India captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said that self-belief helped him reinstate his position after he was dropped from the national team in 2006.
“I was fortunate that I got dropped after 10 years. By then, I had a huge amount of self-relief at that level than scoring runs,” Ganguly said at a book launch ceremony here on Saturday.
Despite being dropped from both ODI and Test teams at the end of December 2006, Ganguly retained his A-grade BCCI contract.
Ganguly, who made his Test debut in England in 1996, was dropped after the Delhi Test against Sri Lanka where he scored 39 and 40.
At the end of the Test, the Indian selectors announced that he had been dropped, with Mohammad Kaif replacing him.
“When I went back to Calcutta after I was left out, not once did I believe that I won’t get an opportunity or believed that I won’t score runs if I was picked,” said the 47-year-old, who was elected to head the country’s cricket board last month.
Chappell vs Ganguly
The decision to drop him resulted in widespread sympathy and public outcry, particularly in his hometown.
He was eventually out of both forms of game for five months.
But India’s poor performance display in 2006 ICC Champions Trophy and ODI series in South Africa, where they lost 4–0, Ganguly made his comeback to the Test team.
In one of the tour matches in South Africa, and on a fast and bouncy track, coming in at 37/4, Ganguly scored 87.
That innings boosted his confidence, and also saw him change his batting style and take a middle-stump guard. Though India lost the series, ‘Maharaj’ topped the scoring chart.
Return to Indian team
After his successful Test comeback, he was recalled to the ODI team for the home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
In his first ODI innings in almost two years, Ganguly came up with a matchwinning 98.
“You cannot take One-day cricket from me. At the age of 40, give me four months of practice and made me play ODI, I will score runs. That’s the belief I got over the years. Training, scoring runs, going down and getting up,” Ganguly added.
On the Indian captaincy, he said: I’m the BCCI President now, but nothing could match the Indian captaincy which was high in order when you lead the country.”
