Sourav Ganguly, one of India’s greatest captains, will go down in history as India’s most aggressive skipper. While he will be remembered for a stellar career, he also made headlines for all wrong reasons and found himself in the midst of unwanted situations.
- Refused to carry drinks: It was alleged that Ganguly had refused to carry drinks during a match. However, years later, Ganguly denied these suggestions.
- Making Steve Waugh wait for toss: The India-Australia series of 2001 is one of the most interesting contests in recent times. During that series, he supposedly reported late for the toss for every game, which irritated the normally cool Steve Waugh.
- Shirt-waving at Lord’s: In a dramatic game that saw India chase down 326 to win the NatWest series, Ganguly took off his shirt on the Lord’s balcony and waved it in the air as his team celebrated.
- The Greg Chappell saga: This is the mother of all Ganguly controversies. In 2005, during the tour to Zimbabwe, Chappell told him quite frankly that the pressure of captaincy was perhaps affecting his batting, in-turn affecting the team. Ganguly hit a laboured ton in the first Test and then told the media that he was asked to resign. The whole controversy then snowballed into a big affair as Greg Chappell wrote an email to the board, detailing a saga of disagreements between him and Ganguly. Soon after the tour, Ganguly was dismissed as captain and dropped from the one-day side.