Criticised for his prolonged slump in form, Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar was about to quit one day cricket till he met former India captain Sourav Ganguly over dinner. Some pep talk from India’s most successful captain ever and Bashar decided he would have another go at it.
Bashar revealed it was Ganguly’s motivational talk that changed his earlier decision of quitting one day cricket after the series against India.
Basher said
He asked me, ‘Is it that you don’t enjoy the game any more?’ I said that wasn’t the case so he said, ‘What’s the point in giving up something you enjoy for no reason?
We chatted for a long time, after which I realised, it’s true, why don’t I just continue playing? ‘Dada’ is always so positive that I feel charged after chatting with him.
After that, Bashar is talking positive and exuded confidence of coming out of his bad-patch. He admitted he had a bad World Cup but pointed out that each and every batsman, however great he may be, suffered such slump at some point of their career and he was no exception.
Ganguly was perhaps the right person to counsel Bashar because the elegant southpaw himself went through such phase in his life. He was stripped of captaincy and axed from the side after a spat with former coach Greg Chappell before Ganguly staged a grand comeback.
Photo: cricinfo
