Sourav Ganguly Offered To Quit As India Captain Before Pakistan ODI Series. Here's Why

The prank was meant to set off a number of laughs, however the drama grew to become so intense {that a} battle-hardened India captain provided to resign in a state of full panic. It was April Idiot’s Day in 2005, which was additionally the coaching day earlier than the beginning of a one-day sequence towards acquainted and bitter rivals Pakistan in Kochi. The burden of expectations was, as ordinary, heavy, and Yuvraj Singh, together with Harbhajan Singh, determined that pranking then-skipper Sourav Ganguly can be the right option to lighten the temper within the dressing room.

So, they walked in carrying faux newspaper clippings during which Ganguly had lambasted his teammates for being social gathering animals, irresponsible, and distant. The cutouts have been so convincing that the normally unfazed ‘Prince of Kolkata’ was genuinely flabbergasted by what was being proven to him.

“Puri group baithi hui thi (the whole group was sitting) after we created this drama and determined that we might make an April Idiot of Dada. Yuvi began it: ‘Dada, what is that this assertion that you’ve got given to the press?’ He informed him that you just had referred to as Yuvi a celebration animal, Harbhajan ko kisi ki padi nahi hai, Ashish Nehra can be in his personal world, and Zaheer Khan additionally events quite a bit,” Harbhajan recalled in a podcast interview with PTI.

“Dada mentioned, ‘When did I say this?’ Then we confirmed these clippings to him and mentioned, ‘What is that this?'” mentioned the 46-year-old.

Earlier than a flummoxed Ganguly may course of something, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid joined in to lend credibility that was not possible to refute.

“…we had already spoken to the seniors about this. I informed Paaji (Tendulkar), ‘Paaji, you inform him.’ And he mentioned to Dada, ‘When you’ve got executed this, that is improper.’ Rahul Dravid was additionally taking part in alongside, so he mentioned, ‘Dada, this isn’t executed, yaar.’ When two senior gamers mentioned that, Dada thought this should be real.

“He mentioned, ‘I swear, I did not do that. I will quit the captaincy if it is proved that I did this.'”

However the lead actors weren’t executed but. Harbhajan, together with a few different gamers, picked up their kits and began strolling out of the dressing room, inflicting Ganguly’s nervousness to shoot up by a number of notches. He was now in a full-blown state of panic.

“The poor man… Whereas he was studying them (the newspaper clips), two or three of us picked up our baggage and began strolling out. Dada got here working after us, saying, ‘Arre yaar, wait, guys! The match is tomorrow. What are you folks doing?'”

The act, nonetheless, ended earlier than issues may turn into any extra difficult, as somebody broke character and set free amusing.

“Poor Dada was the sort of captain whom we may idiot that day, however later we felt, ‘Yaar, we have actually put this first rate man by way of it.’ If it had been another captain, he would genuinely have made us choose up our baggage and informed us, ‘Get out of right here and go residence.’

“However he was like a giant brother,” Harbhajan mentioned with a heat smile on his face as he spoke concerning the man underneath whom he performed a few of his most memorable cricket.

Wright waited exterior

Amid all of the built-up rigidity contained in the dressing room, the group’s head coach, John Wright, was busy organising the fielding cones for coaching.

In any case, it was a high-voltage residence sequence towards Pakistan, and Harbhajan had particularly informed him to keep away from “the interior matter of the group” simply this one time.

The amiable New Zealander patiently waited on the sphere, all of the whereas questioning what may very well be conserving his gamers from popping out for therefore lengthy.

“John Wright was ready exterior, considering, ‘When are they going to come back out? When do I set the sphere? When do I begin getting them to discipline?’ Fifteen minutes, 20 minutes handed, and the group nonetheless hadn’t come out.

“And he simply stored ready whereas all this drama was happening inside.”

Must maintain the dressing room gentle

Harbhajan mentioned pranks like these are a great way to bond with teammates, share a number of laughs, and maintain the temper gentle.

“As a result of if, in sport, you discuss solely about cricket, or solely about no matter sport it’s, the dressing room turns into gloomy and severe. Then the enjoyable goes away. A contented dressing room is a successful dressing room,” he mentioned.

“You come again from the bottom, talk about it, and that is it. If you happen to maintain fascinated about it and carrying on with it, then the ambiance turns into gloomy. And when you’ve made the ambiance like that, what are you going to do whenever you return?” he requested.

The philosophy proved true the following day.

India defeated Pakistan by 87 runs, with Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid slamming lots of and Tendulkar choosing up a five-wicket haul.

Nevertheless, the six-match sequence was an general disappointment, as India misplaced momentum after successful the primary two video games and finally went down 2-4.