They say that “leaders are born fighters”. The message has always been loud and clear in arts and sports. There are only three possibilities for the equation between two similar personalities who share an equivalent level of passion and fire within themselves. The first possibility is that they will be highly respectful towards each other. The second possibility is that they will be entirely neutral about each other’s perspective. The third and final possibility is that the opinions are so diverse that the dislike for each other is visible in the public domain. This is the year 2023 and in this case, when I talk about leaders here, I mean leaders in Indian cricket, aka Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli.
A few years back, if we had told you that in the near future, Ganguly and Kohli would be seen apparently avoiding each other in public, you would have called us fools. In fact, for the longest time, Virat Kohli’s aggressive leadership style was compared to that of Sourav Ganguly, the first Indian captain who taught the Indian cricket team about the spirit to win abroad. Both Ganguly and Virat are personalities who would never let the opposition get the better of them on the cricket field. Both are masters when it comes to mind games. While Virat has given many instances of his expertise in mind games, how can we forget the instance when Sourav Ganguly purposely kept Steve Waugh waiting at the toss during the 2001 Test series against Australia? Until there’s a fire at both ends, but running in a parallel direction, it will never cause harm. It’s only expected to make Indian cricket better and stronger. However, things will only go haywire when they stop running in a similar direction and eventually clash. Well, perhaps, that’s precisely what happened between Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli, what we would assume.
Until a few years back, Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly had massive respect for each other. From attending events and panels together to always speaking highly about each other in the press, we have seen it all between them. However, ever since Virat Kohli decided to step down from T20 captaincy, things have changed drastically. While sitting outside, it is impossible to determine what must have happened between the two. However, several media reports said that was what kickstarted the trouble.
Apparently, Ganguly favoured having only one captain for Team India during his stint as BCCI President. At the same time, Virat had initially announced just quit T20 format captaincy while simultaneously showing the desire to continue in other formats. As per reports, Virat Kohli had mentioned in an interview that he wasn’t informed in advance about his removal as captain of different forms. The fact that Virat Kohli went to say this in public apparently didn’t go down well with Ganguly, the President of BCCI at that time. Since then, it has been speculated that things weren’t entirely fine between the two. Many cricket fans assume that perhaps something was lost in communication or there wasn’t enough clarity in their communication that caused a strain in their bonding.
While the speculations had kind off died a natural death for some time, things came into the limelight again when Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly didn’t exchange pleasantries during the IPL game between RCB and DC this year in 2023. Apparently, Kohli had given him a death stare, as reported by the media, and Ganguly also didn’t do the customary handshake with Kohli after the game. While there was speculation about everything till now, things became crystal clear to the public when Virat and Ganguly reportedly unfollowed each other from Instagram after that handshake controversy. This made it crystal clear that all was not well between the two.
Given that both of them have been fantastic cricketers for the country, it is nothing less than a shame to watch them wash their dirty linen in public. More than individuals, it certainly doesn’t send the right message to the outside world. How can we talk about unity in our cricket when two of the greatest players of different eras aren’t even in talking terms? Very soon, Indian cricket is going to go through a transitional phase. In times like these, it becomes essential for former and senior players and leaders to come together to help groom the squad. Whether the game between Ganguly and Kohli is a clash of ‘egos’ or opinions is something we can’t say or predict sitting outside. However, as a cricket fan, it saddens me to see two of our best leaders do something like this and that too in public. As a cricket fan reader, can you imagine the impact both Ganguly and Kohli can have together to help Indian cricket grow if they look forward to the more significant interest? The possibilities are endless indeed.
As of now, it perhaps seems like no one between the two is looking forward to burying the hatchet anytime soon. However, keeping the more considerable interest in mind, keeping the growth of Indian cricket in mind, let’s hope that these two stalwarts will quickly resolve their differences and once again get back to doing their best together, and that is to groom young talent and help Indian cricket grow forward to achieve new heights and milestones. Given that both of them are naturally aggressive, it might take some time for what we desire to happen. However, hope is what we live for, right folks?