The 2001 Test series was an iconic one for India. The mighty Australian team under Steve Waugh was dominating cricket at the time and beating them was a huge achievement for Team India and the then, newly-appointed captain Sourav Ganguly. It was the start of a change in Indian cricket as they started playing with a more aggressive outlook under Ganguly. However, apart from upsetting the Aussies with the series win, there was another reason that left Waugh displeased with Ganguly.
Waugh has stated several times that he was annoyed by Ganguly in the 2001 series as he used to come late for the toss. The former Aussie batsman has maintained that it was against etiquette for Ganguly to do so.
In a recent conversation with India batsman Mayank Agarwal on the latest episode of ‘Open Nets with Mayank’, Ganguly explained his side of the story. In a video uploaded on BCCI official Twitter webiste, Ganguly maintained that it was an accident as he left his blazer in the dressing room.
‘It was an accident actually. In the first Test match, I left my blazer in the dressing room. They were such a good side and I was really nervous in that series because it was my first big series as captain. Last 25-30 years I haven’t seen a team as good as Australia I that generation. Initially, I forgot my blazer in the first test but then I realized that he reacted to it. It was working on them, working on the team, and how they went about their jobs. They were a bit grumpy with all that and it worked for us as we won the series 2-1,” Ganguly told Mayank.
{{/usCountry}}‘It was an accident actually. In the first Test match, I left my blazer in the dressing room. They were such a good side and I was really nervous in that series because it was my first big series as captain. Last 25-30 years I haven’t seen a team as good as Australia I that generation. Initially, I forgot my blazer in the first test but then I realized that he reacted to it. It was working on them, working on the team, and how they went about their jobs. They were a bit grumpy with all that and it worked for us as we won the series 2-1,” Ganguly told Mayank.
{{/usCountry}}“Having said that, Steve Waugh is a friend and I have tremendous respect for him as a cricketer. It was all in good humour.”
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain had also talked about Ganguly coming late for the toss and how he hated him for that.
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“Sourav’s like that. When I played against Sourav, I hated him, he used to make me wait for the toss every single time and I’ll be like, Ganguly, it’s 10.30, we have to toss,” Hussain said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
“But now I work with him for the last decade on commentary, he’s such a nice, calm, he’s still late for his commentary stints, but he is a lovely bloke. And that’s the way cricketers should be. When you play with him or against him, you don’t like him and when you meet up with him later in life, they’re nice people.”