Ganguly says ‘I blackmailed selectors’!
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It was during the 2003 – 2004 Tour of Australia. The Indian Cricket Team went on head-to-head with the mighty Australian Cricket team in their own backyard. The series not only marked the beginning of the End of the Australian cricket era but also proved that Australian cricket team is no more the ‘invincible’.
Former Indian Cricket team captain, Sourav Ganguly shared an interesting episode about that tour. ‘It was the 2003-2004 Tour of Australia. I literally had to fight with the selectors to include Kumble in the playing eleven.
The selectors chose to ignore Kumble for one of the tests. I requested them that he should be in the squad for the next day’s match. But the selectors were not keen to include him. Even coach John Wright asked me to calm down. But I was so adamant that, I had a severe argument with the selectors for over 2 hours. I even threatened that I also wouldn’t be part of the team if Kumble is not included. The selectors were left with no choice but to include Kumble.
Not only Kumble played exceptionally well in that tour, but went on to take 80 wickets in that calendar year, becoming the first spinner to do so,’ said the former captain and current CAB President Sourav Ganguly.
