Sachin Tendulkar was keen on ending Sourav Ganguly's career in 1997: Report

Former Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the greatest batsman to have played the sport. The Master Blaster is widely regarded as the ‘God of Cricket’. Sachin Tendulkar, who is the highest run-scorer in Tests as well as ODIs, was known for his impeccable batting technique. Sachin Tendulkar has created a plethora of records in his glorious 24-year career. 

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In fact, there was a time when the entire Indian batting line-up was dependent on Sachin Tendulkar and fans would stay glued to the television sets just to watch the batting maestro bat. Sachin Tendulkar was without a doubt one of best batsmen to have played the game but his captaincy stints were far from memorable and by his own admission, the 1997 Test against the West Indies in Barbados was one of the ‘darkest days’ in his legendary career.

Sachin Tendulkar threatened to end Sourav Ganguly’s career 

Sachin Tendulkar captained Team India in 98 matches across formats. However, he had a dismal captaincy record, where India lost 52 matches and won only 27 under his captaincy. His winning percentage as a captain was a moderate 28 per cent. But the Barbados Test thrashing in 1997 was the ‘worst loss’ of them all.

India were chasing a small target of 120 runs set by West Indies. The Indian side was at 2/0 when umpires called stumps on Day 3. Sachin Tendulkar was confident of a victory and that night, he told a restaurant owner to keep a bottle of champagne ready for their party after the win.

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However, the Tendulkar-led Indian side failed miserably as Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop wreaked havoc. The Indian team was eventually bundled out for 81 and lost a match that they could have won easily. After the loss, the scenes in the dressing room were ugly, which were revealed by Indian journalist Vikrant Gupta.

In a YouTube video for SportsTak, Gupta revealed that Sachin Tendulkar gave a firing to all the players in the dressing room, doubting himself on his abilities after the two-Test series. He added that Sourav Ganguly, who was new to the team at that point of time, went up to console the skipper. When he walked up to Tendulkar, the then captain told him to get ready for the next day’s morning run.

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But Sourav Ganguly did not turn up for it and that is when Sachin Tendulkar threatened him that he will send him back home and end his career. He added how the then Indian skipper words changed Sourav Ganguly's attitude towards cricket and he started working hard on his fitness and abilities. He also reckoned that the aforementioned loss changed the Master Blaster’s outlook towards the game. Gupta further said that if not for that loss, Sachin Tendulkar would have retained his captaincy and would have gone on to become a great captain for India.

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IMAGE COURTESY: ICC TWITTER