Sourav Ganguly backed youngsters irrespective of performance, states Parthiv Patel
Recalling his playing days under Sourav Ganguly, Parthiv Patel has revealed that the southpaw’s biggest ability as a skipper was to back the youngsters despite their performance. Patel also admitted that Ganguly’s confidence and faith in players made a huge difference for the young players.
At the age of 17, back in 2002, Parthiv Patel became the youngest wicketkeeper to make his debut for the Indian team. Whilst he was dismissed for a duck in his first Test before he picked two catches to make amends. However, despite a poor start to his cricketing career in the longest format, he admitted that then skipper Sourav Ganguly’s backing was highly influential in his career.
Under the current age and era, it would be tough to believe that a youngster was backed irrespective of his performance by their skipper in cricket’s toughest format, Tests. But Patel added that it was that confidence which helped the youngsters get settled in the dressing room. Recalling one such incident in Adelaide, the Gujarat keeper narrated how Ganguly called the young keeper into his room to affirm faith on him.
“There were many instances, not only one. I played for 2-3 years under Dada’s captaincy. I remember in Australia I had missed a stumping in the Adelaide Test match we won. After that when we reached Melbourne and Sydney, Dada told us that we will have our meals together. When we were having tea in the evening, he used to roam around with a box of Marie biscuits,” said Parthiv on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show.
“He used to call us in his room in the evening to express his confidence on the players, that he is behind us and we should not worry about anything and would not be dropped from the team,” Parthiv added.
Another incident in Brisbane against Australia, the Kolkata man was right there at the non-striker’s end to appreciate the fellow southpaw’s batting. The Gujarat man believes that his ability to show faith in youngster continuously paid off in his captaincy.
“When we were playing against the new ball in Brisbane when he had scored a hundred, I was facing Jason Gillespie with the new ball. After every delivery, Dada used to come to me and tell me how I was playing and appreciate my batting,” Parthiv said.
“That makes a lot of difference and that is not only with one player, he has done it consistently with all players,” he added.