Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers Bangalore set the ball rolling for the attitude-shift in cricket and mass influx of professionalism when they sacked Charu Sharma, and publicly humiliated their skipper, Rahul Dravid, in the first season of the Indian Premier League
Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers Bangalore set the ball rolling for the attitude-shift in cricket and mass influx of professionalism when they sacked Charu Sharma, and publicly humiliated their skipper, Rahul Dravid, in the first season of the Indian Premier League. The radical moves sent out signals to the biggest of names ufffd get in line, get corporate, or face the music.
It is learnt that Sourav Ganguly didn't find favour with franchises due to his questionable behaviour. Throwback to the three seasons of IPL and Ganguly and KKR were actively feeding news to the hungry. From John Buchanan's multiple-captain theory, Brendon McCullum's ascendancy to captaincy, obituaries written for Ganguly, KKR's abysmal show under him, owner Shah Rukh Khan's frustration that saw him leaving South Africa midway through IPL-2, and ghost writers giving away dressing room information.
Having emerged the most successful India captain, the 2000s is remembered as the decade of 'dadagiri'.
However, the question beckons: What is it about Ganguly that made him a misfit in the future of the sport?
Aakash Chopra reckons the reason Ganguly failed to contribute as KKR skipper was his lack of bonding with the teammates: "As a leader, he is the same, both for Team India and KKR. Having said that, as a KKR captain, he rarely got an opportunity to interact, bond with the players and form a unit.
"Also, with two big names ufffd he and John Buchananu00a0 ufffd being put next to each other, some sparks were bound to fly. They were pitted together to bring success. Sadly, it didn't work for either individual. Dravid and Laxman are still active international cricketers. I presume that worked in their favour. It obviously helps when you are actively in the public eye," said Chopra. "He never did anything so wrong for KKR last year to get the boot. It's shocking that one team put Ganguly's name down in their list, and backed out in the last minute. I presume there's more to this than just cricket," added the former India opener.
Another of Ganguly's teammates at KKR, Manoj Tiwary says: "I was very shocked. Having played with him for Bengal and KKR was a dream come true. He played a big role in me opening the batting and scoring some big runs.
"I will miss having him in the dressing room. I was very surprised when he was not picked by any team."
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