Ganguly contributed even though he had retired: Pragyan Ojha highlights former captain's role in India's 2011 World Cup
The 2011 World Cup squad had several players who had made their debuts when Ganguly was captain of the Indian cricket team between 2000 and 2005.
Pragyan Ojha has given a little bit of credit to Sourav Ganguly for India's 2011 World Cup win, even though the former India captain had retired from international cricket in 2008. Led by MS Dhoni, India beat Sri Lanka to lift the World Cup after 28 years in 2011. While MSD became only the second India captain after the great Kapil Dev to taste World Cup glory, Ojha, the former India spinner, believes credit goes to Ganguly for shaping the careers of some of the players who formed a vital part of the team.
"One man, I feel, who had contributed even if he was retired was Sourav Ganguly. If you see, there were 5-6 members from the team that Sourav Ganguly had nurtured. That’s why I say, always believe in the process," Pragyan Ojha said on Sports Today.
The 2011 World Cup squad had several players who had made their debuts when Ganguly was captain of the Indian cricket team between 2000 and 2005, including Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Dhoni himself, without whom the World Cup win wouldn't have been possible.
Sehwag often gave India rollicking starts at the top, while Zaheer was the joint leading wicket-taker of the tournament. Nehra bowled a fine spell against Pakistan in the semi-final, whereas Yuvraj took away the Man of the Tournament award.
"Mahi bhai finished the game with the last-ball six but the contribution that everyone made was superb. Like if you talk about Zak, to me the most important part was breaking those partnerships in the middle overs, that is where the game is decided and that’s what he did to perfection," Ojha added.
"Then we had Munaf Patel, then we had Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Sachin paaji, Viru paa, Gauti bhai and who can forget Yuvi paa. Who can forget the way he was the Man of the Tournament. It was a collective effort."
