Ganguly wants to become the coach of the Indian team: Says—earlier he didn't have time, now he is ready; will not enter politics.

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has expressed his willingness to become the head coach of Team India. In an interview with PTI, he revealed his interest in the role and clearly denied any intentions of entering politics. The former BCCI president also commented on Gautam Gambhir’s potential as a coach.

Currently, the Indian team is on a tour of England, where a five-match Test series is being played. The first match is taking place at Headingley in Leeds.

When asked about coaching, Ganguly said, “I’ve taken on various roles—I became the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and then the BCCI president. I never really had the time, but let’s see what happens in the future. I’m 50 now, and if given the opportunity, I’m ready to become the coach of the Indian team. Let’s see what the future holds.”

Gautam is doing a good job
Sourav Ganguly praised the current coach Gautam Gambhir, saying, “Gautam is doing a good job. Though he had a slow start with losses against Australia and New Zealand, he performed well in the Champions Trophy. The upcoming series against England is going to be a big one.”

Ganguly’s cricket career spanned nearly 16 years
Ganguly made his ODI debut in 1992 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 1996 at Lord’s, where he scored a brilliant 131. In his international career, he played 113 Test matches scoring 7,212 runs, and 311 ODIs scoring 11,363 runs. He notched up 16 centuries in Tests and 22 in ODIs. His highest ODI score was 183, which came against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup.

He became India’s captain in 2000. Under his leadership, India won several historic Test matches overseas and reached the final of the 2003 World Cup. In 2002, India won the NatWest Trophy at Lord’s. Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008.

BCCI President from 2019 to 2022
Ganguly captained the national team from 2000 to 2005 and later served as the 35th president of the BCCI from 2019 to 2022. Before that, he was president of the Cricket Association of Bengal from 2015 to 2019. In 2021, he became the chairman of the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee, replacing Anil Kumble.

Ganguly was also part of the committee that selected coaches. In 2017, he was a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that appointed Ravi Shastri as head coach, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.