Talking cricket with Sourav Ganguly is a pleasure. And when it is an intense conversation with no phone calls in between, it is more so. That’s what happened at his Waterloo apartment on Monday, June 9, 2025. While we did do a formal interview and the transcript will be published on RevSportz in a couple of hours, the backstage, which was just normal cricket chat, was just as interesting.
Take the Rishabh Pant case, for example. Sourav, for long, has been a Pant supporter. In fact, it was Sourav who had said to me in 2019 that Pant would be India’s best Test match batter within a couple of years.
“I did not like what I saw of him in Australia,” he told me with a nod of the head that expressed displeasure. “Too many shots. Just too many shots. He was just swinging at every ball, and that’s not how you bat in conditions where the ball was moving around a bit. He needs to show fight. He has a very good defence. That’s what I want to see. I want him to fight and grind down. Be ugly. Look ugly. But don’t swing at every ball and give it away. I know he is a stroke-maker and that’s his strength, but then he will have to adapt and play accordingly.”
Each time I expressed apprehension about India’s ability in these conditions, Sourav cut me short. “Do you not remember Australia in 2021? Were Virat [Kohli] and Rohit [Sharma] there? They weren’t. Did India not win in Melbourne? And in Brisbane, where Rohit also joined in. This is an opportunity. For these boys to make a mark and be men. Treat it as an opportunity.”
You could sense why and how this man was able to turn things around against Australia in 2001.
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“[Jasprit] Bumrah is your man,” continued Sourav. “You have to understand that you can’t just keep bowling him. Shubman Gill has to take note. Use him as a wicket-taker. Don’t bowl him more than 12 overs a day. Let the other bowlers step up. If you can protect Bumrah and use him as a wicket-taker, you surely have a chance.”
Coming to Gill, Sourav was candid. “He still has some work to do as a Test batter,” he told me. “These are conditions where he needs to score runs. He is a young captain and he will learn. Imagine if he does well. How good is it? He will be hailed as a hero. You live for such situations as a player.”
Finally, when I asked him for predictions, I could sense he was on the edge. “England are a better side in these conditions,” he said. “But if India bat well and bat tough, and if they use Bumrah well, they will have a chance. Look, I will come back to watch Edgbaston or Lord’s, and that’s because I believe they have a chance.”
As I was about to leave, he stopped me and said, “Rahul Dravid and I weren’t any different in 1996. We made the most of our opportunity. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan should do the same.”
You could sense he wants to see fight. That’s what defines him, and good, solid Test cricket.
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