Virender Sehwag wouldn’t have been half the player if he wasn’t an opener, claims Sourav Ganguly

While Virender Sehwag will always be remembered for his explosive batting exploits, not many fans realize that he started off as a No. 4 batsman for Delhi. In a match against Sri Lanka in 2002, Ganguly promoted the talented Delhi youngster to the opening spot and the rest as they say - is history. When he retired Sehwag was considered as one of the most destructive opening batsmen to have ever played the game and Ganguly claimed that had he not played as an opener, that would not have been the case. 

It had been the same for Ganguly as well who started his career in the deep middle order but was promoted to the opening spot where he forged a legendary partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. 

“I was just pushed into it. Like I did to Sehwag. That’s why in this book [A Century Is Not Enough] I’ve mentioned that the best things in life are unwanted. So be open. And be approachable. Don’t close your mind on things. And it came out from my own experience as an opener,” Ganguly told Scroll. 

“The way Hayden and Langer went about as openers. That forced me to push Sehwag as an opener. I said ‘You do it. We’ll see what happens.’ And Sehwag wouldn’t have been half the player if he wasn’t an opener. So I’m convinced that the best things in life happen unwanted. From nowhere.”

While MS Dhoni will always be remembered as the captain who finally delivered the World Cup for India after a 28-year period, Ganguly’s captaincy is still held in huge regard. From the unforgettable Natwest series final to leading the team to a World Cup final in South Africa, Ganguly had his moments and in a way laid the foundations which culminated with India rising to the numero Uno ranking in Test cricket for the first ever time and winning the World Cup for the second World Cup.

When questioned about how important the role of a captain in cricket was, he said, “A coach has to take a step behind. It’s a captain’s game, cricket. Whoever is the captain. Because what happens on the cricket field is a lot different from the dressing room. I think the coach has to support the captain. It cannot be the other way around. That’s how it is with good teams always.”

“Australia at it’s best, Steve Waugh or Mark Taylor. South Africa at it’s best, Graeme Smith. England at it’s best, Andrew Strauss or Alastair Cook. India at it’s best, Ganguly or MS Dhoni. And when I became captain, lot of great players were approachable to me. And I think that’s the best way to learn. There’s no harm in it. You know, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge were nightmares to bowlers. And I had the opportunity of seeing him in Sussex in 1996 when I went on the trip. And I learnt a lot actually. Boycott had so much knowledge about batting. So did Gavaskar. It was terrific.

“And it’s a situation for every young kid. And every young player who comes in. Even when we became captains, you used to see the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag just look at you. It’s their moment. And I think it happens to every individual at various stages of their lives. First thing I went up to Sachin after I became captain and he gave up. I said ‘It doesn’t matter you’re not the captain. You’re still the leader in my group and we have to work together.’ Same thing with Rahul, Anil. We had a core group to run the team. And we made sure we worked like that. I met them and said that ‘you are leaders as well.’”

When asked about how difficult the role of a captain was and how much energy was taken from him during his tenure as the skipper of the Indian team, Ganguly came up with an interesting analogy.

“100%. It’s like an investment banker. The higher the pressure the more you get burned out. The pressure comes in, expectations go up. You have to find new ways. Your honeymoon period finishes. It’s with everyone. Like MS in his last few years, it just gets tougher with time for everyone in the world,” he said.