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Sourav Ganguly reveals VVS Laxman didn't speak to him for 3 months, was replaced by THIS player

Sourav Ganguly reveals VVS Laxman didn't speak to him for 3 months, was replaced by THIS player

Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman Photograph: (AFP)

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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly made a shocking revelation on Sunday (June 22) after he recounted a famous incident from his playing days. 

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly made a shocking revelation on Sunday (June 22) after he recounted a famous incident from his playing days. One of the legendary players, Ganguly shared the dressing room with some of the greats of the game including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. However, drawing back Ganguly shared an interesting story that made headlines in the Indian dressing room in 2003 when Laxman did not speak to him for three months. So what was the incident and what caused the friction between Ganguly and Laxman?

Ganguly recalls infamous VVS Laxman moment

"It has happened many times when we rested players. They were unhappy. Laxman being left out of the World Cup...he never spoke to me for three months. Then I made up with him. Anybody would get upset...for a World Cup. Especially a player of Laxman's calibre. Quite natural that he would get upset," Ganguly told PTI while recalling the moment when Laxman was dropped in 2003 World Cup squad.

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Laxman who played 86 ODIs and scored over 2,338 runs at an average of 30.8, was dropped for the 2003 ODI World Cup by the Indian selectors in favour of Dinesh Mongia. Kiran More, who was part of the selection panel during the 2003 World Cup also opened up on the selection call while in conversation with former Pakistan player Rashid Latif.

“Before the 2003 ODI World Cup selection meeting, we had a huge argument when the Indian team was playing in New Zealand. As per the inputs received from the captain and the coach, we selected a 14-member squad and asked them what they thought of it. Over the conference call, Ganguly had a different opinion. We had selected VVS Laxman as our middle-order batter. Ganguly was very smart. He was a brilliant captain, a person with a great cricketing brain. He said ‘we need an all-rounder,” More had told on former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif’s YouTube channel.

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Ganguly recently spoke about how sad Laxman was when he was dropped from the squad. The two didn’t speak for months, but they eventually patched things up after the World Cup.

The former middle-order batter made a strong comeback to the ODI set-up smashing three tons in the tri-series in Australia in January-February 2004.

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Aditya Bhatia

Aditya Bhatia is a dynamic journalist with a strong passion for storytelling, whether it’s the thrill of live sports or the pulse of current affairs. While sports remain close to...Read More