Hated Sourav Ganguly when I played against him, jokes Nasser Hussain

Aside from the fact that he is one of the most successful batsmen of all time - having scored over 18,000 international runs - Sourav Ganguly, during his playing days, was also one of the most loved characters on the field. Fans took a liking to the natural mojo and charisma possessed by the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ and despite having the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble in the side, it was Ganguly who the fans often adored the most.

But one individual who was not a big fan of Ganguly during his cricketing days, as admitted by himself, was former English skipper Nasser Hussain. The 52-year-old, who was England’s skipper during India’s famous triumph at Lord’s in 2002, joked that he hated Ganguly because of his indiscipline with regards to punctuality, specifically during the toss, but asserted that he now shares a great camaraderie with the former Indian skipper. As recently as the 2019 World Cup, Hussain and Ganguly worked together as commentators. 

“When I played against Sourav, I hated him, he used to make me wait for the toss every single time and I'll be like, Ganguly, it's 10.30, we have to toss,” Hussain said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected, reported TOI.

“But now I work with him for the last decade on commentary, he's such a nice, calm, he's still late for his commentary stints, but he is a lovely bloke. And that's the way cricketers should be. When you play with him or against him, you don't like him and when you meet up with him later in life, they're nice people."

Through his fearless captaincy, Ganguly revolutionized Indian cricket and planted the seeds for the side to rule international cricket - the effect of which is crystal clear, as of this very moment - and Hussain expressed his admiration for the now-BCCI President’s warrior-like attitude that he portrayed on the field. 

“Playing against a Ganguly side, you knew you were in a battle, you knew that Ganguly understood the passion of Indian cricket fans and it wasn't just a game of cricket. It was more important than a game of cricket. 

“He was feisty and he picked feisty cricketers whether it would be Harbhajan or Yuvraj or whoever - feisty in your face cricketers - that when you met him away from the game, were lovely, nice. Sourav's like that.”

Hussain and Ganguly retired from the sport in 2004 and 2008, respectively.