Sourav Ganguly, the famous name when it comes to Indian cricket. Turns out, that he was one of the best captains of team India ever had and no true cricket fan goes against this statement. Known for his amazing cricketing skills and team management. But is that all he’s good at?
There were times, he owned the spotlight by not dodging tricky questions but rather answering those with his super-smart, witty, and perfect tone of how a team leader should be.
These are some of the very smart and quick replies he gave, which won hearts:
1. Nasser, Sourav, and World Cup
Nasser Hussain: “When can I see India playing in a football World Cup?”
Harsha Bhogle: “It’s better not to participate, rather than getting knocked out in the first round.”
Sourav: “If India had played World Cup football for 50 years, then they would have qualified one or two times for the finals, unlike England!”
2. Sourav On Shahid Afridi
Shahid was having a pretty bad time with the bat during the World Twenty20 Championship in 2021. Though Ganguly is not the one to mince words, and being diplomatic isn’t something up his alley.
But, Shahid’s performance really did make him say something, which made all the commentators laugh out loud. He literally sailed, batting is about calculations, and while playing the game, Afridi left his batting sense and brain back in Pakistan.
3. Sourav Appreciating Rahul’s Performance
David Lloyd: “The beauty of Indian batting is when someone like Tendulkar fails, someone else does it and this time it was Dravid.”
Sourav: “This time? He has done it time and again. He has done it day in and day out for 15 years!”
4. “Mauka-mauka” ad
Harsha Bhogle: “Have you seen the new ‘mauka- mauka’ ad?”
Sourav: “Yes, I have seen that ad. And this ad will remain the same for the next 10 to 12 years because Pakistan will never beat India in the World Cup!”
Only if Sourav was the Captain in 2020 and Pakistan would have made that ad now, it wouldn’t have created, much controversy. Since India and Pakistan are finally vibing by the ‘pawri’ joke.
5. India’s Cricket Mecca
The very well-known stunt by Sourav did bring a lot of attention to his way. Now when he gets asked about that, it does get him a bit embarrassed, but that is the iconic Sourav moment all of us, Indian’s are proud of.
Just like that, he was interviewed about that and the reply he gave was an iconic mic-drop moment.
Boycott: “You must mention your experience about talking your jersey off and flying it in the air at the Mecca of Cricket: Lord’s! Oh, naughty boy!”
Sourav: “One of your boys also took off his jersey here in Mumbai.”
Boycott: “Yeah, but Lord’s is the Mecca of cricket.”
Sourav: “Lord’s is your Mecca, Wankhede is ours.”
6. Sachin vs Sourav?
Bhogle: “Do you think Sachin will be more popular than you in that Kolkata Test Match?”
Sourav: “Yes, but only for those five days.”
7. Sourav And His Take On Autobiography
During a Bengali reality show hosted by Sourav, “Dadagiri” he was asked about when would he release his autobiography. Because back then Sachin’s autobiography got released and created some controversy. To that question Sourav replied,
“When I do (release my autobiography), it will create tremors, large ones. I’m just waiting.”
8. Sourav On The WACA Population
Gavaskar: “The attendance today is 7653”
Sourav: “We have that attendance in Durga Pooja.”
9. Greg and Sourav, Best Friends?
Rajdeep Sardesai: “Does Greg Chappell owe an apology to Indian cricket? To Sachin Tnedulkar to Sourav Ganguly, to Dravid?”
Sourav: “He can call up Tendulkar or Dravid. But he dare not dial my number. If he is hearing this on TV, dare not call Sourav Ganguly.”
The aggression is real.
10. Looks and Batting
We all agree that Rohit Sharma is an amazing catch when it comes to his appearance. But Dada made no compromise to make him understand the importance of the game and way of playing when he said,
“You may look like Amitabh Bachchan but you will have to act like him. That’s what’s important. Looks take you nowhere.”
Well, that’s pretty much it to realize how different and unique of a captain is Sourav. Starting from his very witty reply to the replies that uplifted team members. Sourav’s more than the guy who waved his T-shirt at the Lord’s.