The year 2005 was coming to an end, and seemingly, so was Sourav Ganguly’s international career. The man who had led India to so many memorable triumphs was struggling to retain his place in the team, that too, despite some gritty efforts. The writing seemed to be on the wall and the ouster of the Jagmohan Dalmiya group from the cricket Board seemed to have a lot to do with it.
There was no denying that Ganguly was not in the sublime touch that he had shown over the years and probably what Greg Chappell had said was right. Ganguly needed to work on his batting and the crown of captaincy was proving to be too heavy. But the manner in which the controversial coach put across his point had resulted in the feeling that the former skipper was not wanted.
Even as people began the countdown to the end of a glorious career, Ganguly decided to clear the air. He arranged a meeting with Pawar in a bid to bring down the perceived barbed wires that seemed to divide the east and the west of the cricket crazy country.
And boy, was the meeting successful? Ganguly not only regained confidence but also learnt that Pawar had a strong liking for him!
Pawar described him as a “champion cricketer” during that meeting on December 21, 2005, and expressed shock at the way he had been dumped by selectors despite useful knocks in the New Delhi Test against Sri Lanka.
The new Indian cricket chief promised he would ensure there would never be any injustice towards the Bengal cricketer, who was a relieved man. Ganguly clawed back to regain his place during 2006 and was a revelation in the following year, scoring in excess of one thousand runs.
A barrier had been broken for good and India got back a champion cricketer.
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