CHENNAI: If Javagal Srinath had been the match referee when former India captain Sourav Ganguly famously kept his Australian counterpart Steve Waugh waiting at the toss during the 2001 Eden Gardens Test match, Ganguly may well have faced a suspension!“I would have banned Sourav for a few games,” Srinath said at an event here while recalling the incident, which has gone down in history as an act of gamesmanship that rattled Waugh and the Australian team during the course of the famous series that India won 2-1. Ganguly later said that he couldn’t find his blazer, leading to an impromptu delay.Srinath, however, praised Ganguly’s leadership, particularly his ability to nurture youngsters such as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag. He felt Indian cricket underwent a major transformation after the match-fixing scandal of the late 1990s, with players developing a collective resolve to restore the game’s image.“There was a bit of a resoluteness in each and every player to really put that image back and then prove to the world that cricket is superior, cricket is clean,” Srinath said. He recalled that between 1991 and 1997-98, India struggled to win abroad but things began changing from 1999 on.Looking back at the 2003 World Cup final against Australia, Srinath revealed that he had wanted India to bat first after a discussion within the team. “I was one of the guys who said we should always bat first and then put them under pressure,” he said. But Ganguly had a different view. And once the decision was made, Srinath said the team had to move on, but Australia were simply too strong.He recalled recommending Zaheer to selector Chandu Borde after watching the left-arm pacer take six wickets against Air India while representing the MRF Pace Foundation. When Borde jokingly asked what would happen to Srinath if Zaheer was picked, his response was simple: “If he’s good, he replaces me.”
