How An Adamant Sehwag Taught Key Captaincy Lesson To Ganguly

Former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Saturday recalled his early lessons in captaincy, which included an incident involving Virender Sehwag during the Natwest Trophy final

The 48-year-old, who has just recovered from illness and underwent angioplasty recalled his debut ODI in Australia. He could make just three on his debut in Australia at Brisbane against West Indies in the 1991-92 tri-series.

But he termed that debut as an important part of his career.

"I don't consider the 1992 series as a failure. I didn't get much opportunity to play. But it helped me to become a better cricketer. I did training for the next 3-4 years and became mentally and physically strong," he added.

Ganguly then made his Test debut at Lord's in 1996 and made centuries in his first two Tests - 131 at Lord's and 136 at Nottingham.

"In 1996, I returned much stronger and then learnt the intricacies of scoring, played more than 150 games for India. Played with relaxed mindset at Lord's on debut. During those four years (1992 to 1996), I became strong. Cricket and batting knowledge increased a lot. It (the 1992 failure) was a blessing in disguise," added Ganguly.

"I was always nervous. Nervousness helped in success. Failure is a part of life. It helps one to learn better. Even Sachin Tendulkar would be nervous. He would use headphones to remove pressure," he added.

Ganguly also recalled an incident where he got an advice on his fitness from a driver.

"I was run out in a match against Pakistan. My driver said 'you are not training well which is why your running between the wickets is slow'," said Ganguly who took the advice and began training harder.