Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Cricket Editorial Exclusive Interviews Indian Cricket

“Let him say whatever he likes”: Sourav Ganguly says it’s far too early to judge Gautam Gambhir

November 17, 2024
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/boria/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e660b408ca5a915f1c718d0cd98a879b?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Boria Majumdar</span></a>
A snap from the interview

A RevSportz Exclusive

Sourav Ganguly is one of the best analysts of the sport. As captain and leader, he changed the face of Indian cricket. It was his 144 at The Gabba that defined the tour of Australia in 2003-4 and when Ganguly says, “Send Shami immediately to Australia”, it is something that will surely be taken note of. In this hour-long chat in the ground floor living room of his Behala residence, Ganguly opened up on all things Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Part 1

Excerpts:

Boria: Shami has bowled 40-plus overs. He has picked up 7 wickets. After this, there aren’t any more Ranji Trophy games. Do you think he should be sent to Australia?

Sourav: Absolutely. He must go. He doesn’t need to play the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He should do to Australia by the next flight. Go and bowl in the nets. Even if he doesn’t play in Perth, he will get to bowl and get ready.

Boria: Without Shami, is this bowling underdone?

Sourav: No. Little bit weakened, because [Jasprit] Bumrah, Shami, [Mohammed] Siraj is stronger than Bumrah, Siraj, and Prasidh [Krishna]. Definitely stronger. But fast bowlers do get injured, you cannot do anything about it. Mohammed Shami needs to be on the flight to Australia as soon as possible.

Boria: India going in with a 0-3 series loss to New Zealand. How do you look at it? Can India compete?

Sourav: I think for me, at the moment, India – Australia, India – England are two of the best series in world cricket. Obviously, the Ashes is there. But I think these two series will be keenly watched and going through the social media, through news and all, I can feel there is a lot of excitement in Australia. Rightfully so, for five Test matches. [Virat] Kohli and Rohit [Sharma] may not be going back to the country again after this. There is enough in this series. It is going to be a fascinating series, and I am looking forward to it.

I wish I could be there to work on the series, but my other commitments are stopping me from doing it. It is going to be a great series, and I will be up in the morning to watch the action from Perth. I know it is not an early morning wake up time, not at 5:30 because of time differences, and that should help!

India has a chance, of course. I know they did not play well against New Zealand, and they are responsible for it. They cannot play on such pitches.

I have repeatedly said this. When you have the quality of [Ravichandran] Ashwin, [Ravindra] Jadeja, Kuldeep [Yadav], Axar [Patel], and Washington [Sundar], you do not need pitches which turn square because it takes the batting away. There has not been not a single 100 in that series, except the one by Sarfaraz [Khan] in Bangalore. That speaks volumes on how the surfaces played throughout the Test matches. And I say this repeatedly. I said this when I was captain, when Virat was captain, some of the pitches spun a lot. It takes the batting away. Batsmen lose confidence if they do not score runs game after game, and I think that is something which needs to be looked at.

I have always said win Test matches in five days, not in three days. And with Ashwin and Jadeja, Test matches change very quickly on day three, day four, day five in India. It may look flat and nothing happening on day one, day two and then suddenly things start changing. That is what they should look at. Gautam [Gambhir] needs to make sure the pitches are better.

They are a good side, and against Australia, it is going to be a fascinating series. A lot of people are saying they will be whitewashed, but I do not think so. The pitches will be better.

 

Boria: Are you worried about the fragility in India’s batting?

Sourav: No, I do not think the batting is fragile. I personally believe from a career standpoint and also reputation-wise, it is a make-or-break series for [Shubman] Gill. I heard he is injured, and I hope he recovers quickly. For him and Yashasvi [Jaiswal], it is going to be a big series. I hope Rohit Sharma goes very soon. As a team, they need him. He has had a baby boy a couple of days ago. So, I am sure he can leave as early as possible and today is the 16th. If I was in his position, he should be playing the Perth Test. It is on 22nd, which is still almost a week away. Because it is a big series and maybe he will not go to Australia after this. He is a fantastic captain, and the team needs his leadership to start with.

Boria: You were instrumental in making him Test captain at the time you were BCCI President, because he wasn’t keen initially.

Sourav: Yeah, because he did not want to as he was captaining in every other format. So, there was a lot of workload anyway on him. But I do not believe in workload. Test captain of India will always be Test captain of India, and I told him so. I said do not finish your career not being Test captain of India.

Boria: Tell me something. KL Rahul, what is his problem? Is it in the mind?

Sourav: Yeah, confidence. He has to speak to himself. He has to speak to himself and say, just put everything behind. Ups and downs are part and parcel of sports. Confidence will go up and down. You have to bring it back by working hard in the nets. I know he has gone through a lot. Lucknow Super Giants have released him. I do not know whether they will buy him back in the auction. I am sure he will find a good team and get his worth in the IPL. But these things put pressure on players.

In and out of the team, he is seeing young players play well in T20s. You see what they have done in South Africa. He has to change and cannot keep playing the same way and expect to be picked all the time, because somebody else will come and get picked. So, I think he has got to sit with himself and get away from everything, all his friends and family, team and IPL owners, auctions and self-discover. Look at the mirror and say, I need to play differently. I need to get tough inside and fight this period. He has got a fantastic 100 in South Africa last time round. He can score hundreds in these conditions. But the mind has to believe that, and the fight has to be there.

Boria: If Rohit does not make it to the Perth, you would open with Rahul, because that is what Gautam indicated?

Sourav: I think so, and play Dhruv Jurel in the middle.

Boria: Gautam Gambhir – so much flak already after one series!

Sourav: All I will say is let him be. I saw some criticism on what he said in the press conference. It is the way he is. Let him be. When he won the IPL, he was the same. You were going gaga over him. Just because he has lost three Test matches and a one-day series against Sri Lanka, the straight talk has not been looked at nicely. But that is the way he is.

And why not? Australians, from the time I have watched cricket, they have been tough for you. They have played their cricket that way, whether it was [Steve] Waugh, [Ricky] Ponting or [Matthew] Hayden. So, there is nothing wrong with what Gambhir has said. That is the way he is, and he fights. He competes, so let us give him a chance. It has just been two-three months, and you are passing judgement on him.

 

Boria: The Australians have started already, and they will go after him. What is the problem if he says something?

Sourav: No problem whatsoever. Let him say whatever he likes, for that will help him. Ultimately you have to go and play the game hard. That is the way it is, and it has happened for ages against Australian cricket teams. That makes this series even more competitive and even more followed by people. So let it be. Let’s give Gambhir a chance. You have given him a job. In two months, you cannot pass a judgement on him.

I know the next nine months, it will be very hard for him. Five Test matches in England. Champions Trophy. It will decide Gambhir. So, from my point of view, give him a chance and do not be too hard on him.

Part 2 to follow.

On Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Bumrah, India’s choice of spinner at Perth and more.