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Has he applied for the post of Team India’s head coach? Or hasn’t he applied? At least, he should have applied. No, he hasn’t applied. He won’t. At least, the BCCI should have considered him. At least, the BCCI should have made an effort to ask him to apply, isn’t it? He was the BCCI boss once. But now, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is completely out of favor. Otherwise, there isn’t anyone better than him to be India’s head coach. Of course, Gautam Gambhir is the toast of the nation after assisting KKR to win its third IPL title, but then what about Ganguly? Is he robbed of his favourite job?
Post-retirement, Ganguly had himself admitted that it isn’t cricket administration or TV hosting, it is coaching a team he liked the most. “The coaching bit I enjoy the most. That is the real thing. It is about winning and losing. It’s an achievement. When I went to Delhi Capitals, they used to come last. They never qualified, and then qualifying with the same bunch of players with very few additions and subtractions was very satisfying,” Ganguly had told this writer in March 2020.
Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Ganguly was made the BCCI president reportedly under certain conditions in 2019, and subsequently removed for his failures as the head of the organisation. In simple words, he isn’t on good terms with the BCCI management. So, the partnership collapsed.
But Ganguly’s bonding with cricket grew more when he was again appointed as DC’s director of cricket, and we may see him becoming the coach of the team in place of Ricky Ponting. In a way, it is great news that Ganguly is doing what he loves doing. But here also, Ponting was the one who was taking the calls. Now that the time has come to pass on the baton to Ganguly completely, he will do a lot more than participate in the nets, and in matches as the director. He could be seen sitting at the mega auction too.
However, the man who played the role of bringing in some of his contemporaries like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and VVS Laxman to India’s coaching job has surprisingly not even been talked about. Perhaps, Indian cricket doesn’t deserve a coach like Ganguly. He is someone who not only took the reins of Indian cricket when fans questioned the credibility of the game but also transformed the team completely. There was Ganguly who took India to several finals, sacrificed his batting position for MS Dhoni, blooded a battery of youngsters by backing them to the hilt, and still offers coaching tips to players from other teams after IPL games. He can’t live without cricket.
All the talk about job security to players was first introduced by Ganguly when he was the captain of the Indian team. When it comes to the passion for cricket, no one can forget how he celebrated after winning the Nat-West final win over England inside the Lord’s balcony by going topless and swinging his t-shirt in the air. The story is endless. Former India coach Ravi Shastri, who is only good at giving pep talks, never liked Ganguly for his achievement. But there are more in Indian cricket who don’t like Ganguly’s modus operandi. That is why he isn’t applying, right?
Imagine a story headline: Ganguly replaces Rahul Dravid as head coach of India, why can’t it happen like that? Time has run out. No one has approached Ganguly. At least, Dravid should have suggested Ganguly’s name. At least, Laxman should have told the BCCI bosses about him. Even a stalwart like Anil Kumble should have floated his name.
At least, Dhoni could have suggested Ganguly’s name when he was reportedly asked to pursue CSK coach Stephen Fleming for India’s head coach on behalf of BCCI. At least, Shastri suggested Dravid to be the head coach when he saw that Virat Kohli’s aura in Indian cricket as a don was getting over. Shastri took the escape route while Ganguly stayed on even after BCCI showed his door. That is because he loves this game. Gambhir is young and could have waited. But Ganguly loves his job of coaching and he has nearly a decade left to grab this post one day, who knows?
