Bengal is not limited to just one prince, says Ravi Shastri

During the first session of Day 3 of the second Test match between India and England, commentator Ravi Shastri took an indirect dig at former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly while having a discussion on the Indian bowling line-up. Shastri praised India’s pace bowling duo of Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami by terming them as ‘Vidarbha Express’ and ‘Sultan of Bengal’ respectively.

However, when co-commentator Ian Botham asked whether the term ‘Prince of Bengal’ already exists, implying towards the nickname given to Sourav Ganguly, Shastri replied to this by saying that there is much more to know about Bengal and that the state is not limited to just one prince.

The cold war between the two former cricketers dates back to June 2016, when BCCI was interviewing suitable candidates for the post of Indian cricket team's head coach. Shastri, who has also served as the team's director previously, was miffed about the fact that Ganguly was not present during his presentation for being the coach of India. Ganguly was a key member of the four-man Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), alongside Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and BCCI convenor Sanjay Jagdale, which had interviewed the candidates before appointing Anil Kumble.

After this, Shastri launched a scathing attack on Ganguly by claiming that his absence from the presentation was disrespectful. Ganguly responded in typical style by saying,  “If Ravi thinks because of me that he is not the coach of Team India, then he is living in a fool’s world. Ravi has made a personal attack which was not expected and is very saddening.”