Harbhajan Reveals How Yuvraj, Tendulkar And Dravid Nearly Made Ganguly Quit Captaincy

Sou av
Ga guly
was
left
so
co vi ced
by
a
elabo ate
Ap il
Fool’s
p a k
that
he
offe ed
to
give
up
the
I dia
captai cy,
Ha bhaja
Si gh
has
ecalled.
Yuv aj
Si gh
a d
Ha bhaja
had
c eated
fake
ewspape
clippi gs
accusi g
Ga guly
of
c iticisi g
his
teammates,
while
Sachi
Te dulka
a d
Rahul
D avid
joi ed
the
act
to
make
the
sto y
believable.

Fake
Newspape
Repo ts
Leave
Ga guly
Stu ed

The
p a k
took
place
o
Ap il
1,
2005,
a
day
befo e
I dia
bega
thei
ODI
se ies
agai st
Pakista
i
Kochi.

Recalli g
the
i cide t
i
a
co ve satio
with
PTI,
Ha bhaja
said
the
e ti e
team
was
sitti g
togethe
whe
he
a d
Yuv aj
decided
to
ta get
Ga guly
with
the
fab icated
epo ts.

“Pu i
team
baithi
hui
thi
(the
e ti e
team
was
sitti g)
whe
we
c eated
this
d ama
a d
decided
that
we
will
make
a
Ap il
Fool
of
Dada.
Yuvi
sta ted
it:
‘Dada,
what
is
this
stateme t
that
you
have
give
to
the
p ess?’
He
told
him
that
you
have
called
Yuvi
pa ty
a imal,
Ha bhaja
ko
kisi
ki
padi
ahi
hai,
Ashish
Neh a
is
also
i
his
ow
wo ld
a d
Zahee
Kha
also
pa ties
a
lot.& dquo;

Ga guly
immediately
questio ed
the
epo ts
a d
de ied
maki g
a y
such
comme ts.

“Dada
said
‘whe
did
I
say
this?’
The
we
showed
those
clippi gs
to
him
a d
said,
‘What
is
this?’& dquo;

The
p a kste s
the
b ought
two
se io
playe s
i to
the
act.
Te dulka
a d
D avid
p ete ded
to
co f o t
Ga guly
about
the
alleged
comme ts,
maki g
the
fake
epo ts
appea
i c easi gly
ge ui e.

“…we
had
al eady
spoke
to
the
se io s
about
this.
I
told
Paaji
(Te dulka ),
‘Paaji,
you
tell
him’.
A d
he
said
to
‘Dada,
if
you
have
do e
this,
this
is
w o g’.
Rahul
D avid
was
also
playi g
alo g,
so
he
also
said,
‘Dada,
this
is
ot
do e,
yaa ‘.
Whe
two
se io
playe s
said
that,
Dada
thought
(this
must
be
ge ui e).& dquo;

Ga guly
Offe s
To
Give
Up
Captai cy

The
p a k
eached
its
most
d amatic
poi t
whe
Ga guly,
still
believi g
the
epo ts
we e
ge ui e,
offe ed
to
step
dow
as
captai
if
he
had
actually
made
the
comme ts.

“He
said
‘I
swea ,
I
did ‘t
do
this.
I’ll
give
up
the
captai cy
if
(it’s
p oved
that)
I
did
this’.& dquo;

But
Yuv aj
a d
Ha bhaja
we e
ot
fi ished.

A
few
playe s
picked
up
thei
c icket
bags
a d
sta ted
walki g
out
of
the
d essi g
oom,
leavi g
Ga guly
i c easi gly
wo ied
about
what
was
happe i g
to
his
team
just
a
day
befo e
a
high-p ofile
se ies
agai st
Pakista .

“The
poo
guy…While
he
was
eadi g
them
(the
ewspape
clips),
two
o
th ee
of
us
picked
up
ou
bags
a d
sta ted
walki g
out.
Dada
came
u i g
afte
us,
sayi g,
‘A e
yaa ,
wait,
guys!
The
match
is
tomo ow.
What
a e
you
people
doi g?’& dquo;

The
p a k
eve tually
fell
apa t
whe
someo e
b oke
cha acte
a d
laughed.

Looki g
back,
Ha bhaja
admitted
the
playe s
late
felt
they
had
put
Ga guly
th ough
e ough.

“Poo
Dada
was
the
ki d
of
captai
whom
we
could
fool
that
day,
but
late
we
felt,
‘Yaa ,
we’ve
eally
put
this
dece t
ma
th ough
it.’
If
it
had
bee
some
othe
captai ,
he
would
ge ui ely
have
made
us
pick
up
ou
bags
a d
told
us,
‘Get
out
of
he e
a d
go
home’.& dquo;

He
added:

“But
he
was
like
a
big
b othe .& dquo;

Joh
W ight
Was
Waiti g
Outside

While
the
d ama
u folded
i side
the
d essi g
oom,
I dia’s
head
coach
Joh
W ight
was
epo tedly
waiti g
outside
to
begi
the
team’s
t ai i g
sessio .

Ha bhaja
said
W ight
had
bee
delibe ately
kept
away
f om
the
p a k.

“Joh
W ight
was
waiti g
outside,
thi ki g,
‘Whe
a e
they
goi g
to
come
out?
Whe
do
I
set
the
field?
Whe
do
I
sta t
getti g
them
to
field?’
15
mi utes,
20
mi utes
passed
—
the
team
still
had ‘t
come
out.& dquo;

The
New
Zeala d
coach
appa e tly
had
o
idea
why
his
playe s
we e
taki g
so
lo g
to
eme ge.

“A d
he
just
kept
waiti g,
while
all
this
d ama
was
goi g
o
i side.& dquo;

Ha bhaja
believes
such
mome ts
we e
impo ta t
i
keepi g
the
atmosphe e
elaxed
i side
the
I dia
d essi g
oom.

“Because
if,
i
spo t,
you
talk
o ly
about
c icket
—
o
o ly
about
whateve
spo t
it
is
—
the
d essi g
oom
becomes
gloomy,
se ious.
The
the
fu
goes
away.
A
happy
d essi g
oom
is
a
wi i g
d essi g
oom.& dquo;

He
explai ed
that
playe s
also
eeded
to
k ow
whe
to
leave
a
bad
pe fo ma ce
behi d.

“You
come
back
f om
the
g ou d,
discuss
it,
a d
that’s
it.
If
you
keep
thi ki g
about
it
a d
ca yi g
o
with
it,
the
the
atmosphe e
becomes
gloomy.
A d
if
you’ve
made
the
atmosphe e
like
that,
what
a e
you
goi g
to
do
whe
you
go
back?& dquo;

The
p a k
came
just
befo e
I dia
p oduced
a
st o g
esult
i
the
ope i g
ODI
agai st
Pakista .
I dia
wo
the
match
by
87
u s,
with
Vi e de
Sehwag
a d
Rahul
D avid
sco i g
ce tu ies
while
Te dulka
claimed
five
wickets.

I dia,
howeve ,
could
ot
mai tai
that
mome tum
th oughout
the
six-match
se ies.
Afte
wi i g
the
fi st
two
matches,
they
lost
the
ext
fou
to
su e de
the
se ies
4-2.

Ha bhaja
ecalled
the
p a k
while
speaki g
to
PTI,
desc ibi g
it
as
o e
of
the
d essi g- oom
mome ts
that
helped
teammates
bo d
away
f om
the
p essu e
of
i te atio al
c icket.

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