Sourav Ganguly Didn't Win A World Cup For India But his 'TWO BRAVE CALLS' Won Us Multiple World Cups

Rohit Sharma and company added another glorious chapter to India's rich cricketing history as they thumped South Africa to win their second World T20 title on June 29, 2024. The Indian cricket had been deprived of an ICC trophy for the last 11 years and they ended the wait by scripting history at the Kensington Oval, Barbados. This is India's second World T20 trophy, the first one coming under the leadership of MS Dhoni. But do we credit the unsung hero Sourav Ganguly for effectuating these victories? The answer in no.

'Dhoni Ko Try Karte Hain': A Line That Changed Indian Cricket

In the Sourav Ganguly-era, India, for a long time were deprived of a proper wicketkeeper batsman. Due to the lack of quality talent in the wicketkeeping department, Rahul Dravid had to keep wickets for India in the 2003 ODI World Cup. But things changed fast and quick when MS Dhoni was selected in the Indian team and he played that role to perfection since his debut from 2004. 

Hailing from Ranchi, Jharkhand, MSD had to face a lot of struggles and faced a stiff competition from the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha, but it was Sourav Ganguly's conviction in MS and he later convinced the Indian selectors to try MS Dhoni and the rest is history. MS went on to win three ICC trophies for India as a skipper and no other captain in the history of the game has been able to do so.

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Virat Kohli has been a stalwart of Indian cricket and in his captaincy days, he turned the Indian team into a ruthless unit. But somehow, Virat and Shastri as a duo could never deliver a World Cup for India. After the 'Men in Blue' exited from the first round of the T20 World Cup in 2021, then BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was very clear that he wanted the leadership duties to shift to Rohit Sharma. 

There was a public fallout between Kohli and the BCCI headed by Ganguly before the South Africa tour. Kohli openly said that he was just informed over a phone call that he wasn't the captain anymore and this sparked rumours of Kohli's bitter relationship with the then BCCI chief and former India skipper.

Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid were handed the reigns of Indian cricket in November 2021 and since then they led India in three ICC events before the 2024 T20 World Cup. Sourav Ganguly, despite stepping down from the role of BCCI Chief always showed a lot of confidence in Rohit's leadership and backed his decision. Now that Rohit has delivered a World Cup for India, a lot of praise should go to the ex-BCCI Chief and India captain as well.