Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been credited for creating a strong team in the early 2000s that went on to challenge some of the best oppositions in the world. Ganguly was known for backing his players which allowed the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, and a young MS Dhoni, among others, to make names for themselves despite the Indian team loaded with legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman.
During a recent interview, veteran wicketkeeper, explosive batsmen Parthiv Patel spoke about Dada as a captain. He talked about how Ganguly backed him despite missing an important stumping chance in the 2003 Adelaide test during the series against Australia.
On being asked about moments when he was backed by Sourav Ganguly in the latest episode of Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show, Parthiv said: “There were many instances, not only one. I played for 2-3 years under Dada’s captaincy. I remember in Australia I had missed a stumping in the Adelaide Test match we won.
“After that when we reached Melbourne and Sydney, Dada told us that we will have our meals together. When we were having tea in the evening, he used to roam around with a box of Marie biscuits.”
“He used to call us in his room in the evening to express his confidence on the players, that he is behind us and we should not worry about anything and would not be dropped from the team,” Parthiv recalled.
Parthiv further recalled the appreciation Dada showed towards him when he was facing the extremely formidable Jason Gillespie with the new ball.
“That makes a lot of difference and that is not only with one player, he has done it consistently with all players,” he added.
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