The name of BCCI President Sourav Ganguly is one of the most successful captains of Indian cricket. In a conversation with Deepak Lamba, President of Times Strategic Solutions Limited and CEO of Worldwide Media at an event organized by The Economic Times India Leadership Council, he said that he never tried to compete with players like Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin or Rahul Dravid. Didn’t.
Ganguly said, “There is a difference between being a captain and a leader. You assure the elders and the youth to believe in your leadership? For me, captaincy means leading a team on the field and leadership means building a team. So I have worked with Sachin, Azhar or Dravid, but I didn’t compete with them. Instead, I collaborated with them and shared the responsibility.”
Ganguly said that he has played with great players who could have captained the country at any time. He said, “I have seen a real transformation of cricket over time. There were people with different mindsets and I realized long ago that there is no dearth of talent within the team, but talent without exposure is nothing. I had some great players under my captaincy who could become captain at any time and I was fortunate to meet those great players. So I saw it not only as an honor but also as an opportunity to turn things around.”
Ganguly also said, “When you select a person, first you see their potential and secondly you choose them to be successful. And for me his career was as important as mine because I know what it takes to represent India?” When asked what is the difference between being a captain and managing BCCI?
Sourav replied, “I believe it is common practice to manage people. This country has exceptional talent ranging from young sportspersons to young corporate employees. I really believed that if I want to be the captain of a successful team then I have to respect my colleagues so that they can become good players.