Tendulkar stood by Ganguly when then Indian coach Greg Chappell had decided to sack the latter of his captaincy.
In what will be his second-last match in India whites at the Eden Gardens, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who will also be commentating at the venue, went on to say that the 40-year old Tendulkar stood by him when then Indian coach Greg Chappell had decided to sack Sourav of his captaincy. ‘The Prince of Kolkata’ Sourav Ganguly, then captain of the Indian team, had developed various indifferences with Chappell between late 2005 and early 2006 that resulted in his removal as skipper and then axing from the Test side in January 2006.
Speaking to a news channel, Dada said, “When I developed a distance with Chappell, Sachin stood by me. When I was dropped, I thought it was a fight between Chappell and Ganguly. When I returned to the Indian team after months, I found it was Chappell versus everyone. There was a battle of nerves between Sachin and Chappell.”
Sourav said that Tendulkar used to get upset when he was criticized. “Like any other human being, he used to get affected by criticism, but never showed it publicly”.
Ganguly, who shared the Indian dressing room with Tendulkar for over a decade, said that the Little Master shook off his on-field reservedness and became much more closer. “There he used to be much more open. He was a very good mixer. We have spent a lot of time together. Sometimes we used to stay together for six months at a stretch. Off the field, I found Tendulkar was like any other average middle class man.”
Sachin Tendulkar will hang up his boots in the two Test series, the first starting from today at Eden Gardens.
With IANS inputs
