Asia Cup 2018: Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly Takes A Dig At Head Coach Ravi Shastri (Watch Video)

Sourav Ganguly, known to speak his mind without mincing words, was at his candid best where he talked about the team dynamics in the Indian team, coach’s approach, and captain’s role in nurturing a good team. Ganguly also took a dig at Ravi Shastri, while launching his book ‘A Century is not Enough’ at a book launch event.

When Ganguly was asked if given a question to ask to the current head coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, Sourav Ganguly said, “Who picks up the team, Rohit Sharma (current ODI captain) or Ravi Shastri?”

During his chat, Sourav Ganguly was asked a question – What does it take to be a good coach? The former Indian captain replied, “Man management skills at this level. Hardly few have it, these days. The coach has to take a back seat, unlike football. A lot of the cricket coaches start to believe that I am going to run a cricket team like a football team. Because they see the Ferguson(s), the Mourinho(s), the Zidane(s), of the football world.”

Speaking on what should be the coach’s approach should be, Ganguly said, “Cricket is a captain’s game, and the coach has to take a back seat, which is very important.”

Talking about how the team dynamics should be, Ganguly commented, “When you have exceptional players in the team. You’ll have to, at times, to be a good leader, is follow the way they want to follow. Sometimes, they can be better than you.”

Commenting on how a leader of the team should be, Ganguly said, “A leader is not just my way or the highway. It is about adjusting the greats in the dressing room. Virat needs to work closely on it.”

Sharing his experience as the captain of Indian team, Ganguly added that he had watched Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and the likes from close quarters.

Mentioning how should the captain and management nurture a good player and the team eventually, Ganguly stated, “I am a firm believer that you should put pressure; it is a must in professional’s life. But don’t put so much pressure that you crack him. You should allow them the freedom to express themselves. That is the only way you can build a good team.”

Watch Video of Sourav Ganguly Discussing Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri, Team Management and Much More at his Book Launch Event in Pune:

Recently, Sourav Ganguly backed Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed and asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to stand in support of the under-fire skipper. Earlier, the former Indian captain had talked about KL Rahul’s inclusion in the team over Dinesh Karthik, too. Stay tuned with us for the latest updates about Sourav Ganguly!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2018 11:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).