Polite Indian Team Changed in the Hands of Sourav Ganguly: Nasser Hussain

Sourav Ganguly has always been regarded as the captain who changed the face of Indian cricket, and one his rivals England’s Nasser Hussain concurs.

The former England skipper says that Ganguly made the Indian team more fierce and aggressive.

Ganguly, took charge in troubled times for Indian cricket, right after the match-fixing fiasco had shook up the world of cricket while Hussain, who is also credited with changing the face of English cricket in the first decade of the century, played a similar role with the beleaguered Test side.

Ganguly was for long India’s most successful captain, before being overtaken by MS Dhoni first and Virat Kohli later. Ganguly’s captaincy saw India win 76 ODIs and 21 Tests out of the 146 ODIs and 49 Tests played.

Not only did he mark the starting of a new phase by building a formidable Indian team away from home but also introduced a never before seen aggressive streak.

“Ganguly changed Indian cricket,” said Hussain in a Sky Sports podcast. “Before Ganguly, India were a very humble, polite team. He made them a very feisty side.”

The former India captain has had plenty of memorable moments during his career and Lord’s 2002, the Natwest Trophy Final, is one of his defining days as skipper.

Touching on the incident Hussain said: “Freddie bowled brilliantly at the death in that series [in India before the NatWest series], in scorching heat [in Mumbai]! He got the last wicket and, as was the fashion then, he whipped his shirt off.

“He was waving his shirt over his head and somewhere in Ganguly’s mind, he stored that and made sure he used it at a future date.”