Sourav Ganguly, without doubt, was one of India's finest captains. But could he be the coach of India in future? Going by his own comments, it seems 'Dada' is open to the role.
He did serve as BCCI and CAB president, helped an IPL franchise as a mentor, and worked as a pundit on television. However, Ganguly has never taken any form of coaching role.
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The former Indian captain, who led the side with a fiery attitude in the 2000s, has opened up about the idea of coaching the national team someday. He said he never gave it a lot of thought before but now he’s keeping the option open.
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Ganguly claimed that he didn’t think too much about it after retiring. He stopped playing in 2013, and soon he got into other roles- commentary, then cricket board, and later mentoring an IPL team. His path just went differently.
In his words, he never focused on the coaching role because that was not an opportunity that came by him, thanks to the various administrative roles he assumed straight after his playing days.
“I never really thought about it because I got into different roles," Ganguly was quoted as saying by PTI. “I finished (competitive cricket) in 2013 and then became Board (BCCI) president," Ganguly noted.
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But when he was asked recently if he would want to coach India, he didn’t say no: “We’ll see what the future holds. I’m just 50 (53), so let’s see what happens. I’m open to it. We’ll see where it goes."
What has Sourav Ganguly done since retiring from international cricket?
He was BCCI president for a few years, where he pushed for more women’s cricket and worked on different areas of the game. Before that, he had short stints as a broadcaster and cricket expert.
He also worked with the Delhi Capitals in the IPL. He was their team director between 2018 and 2019, then again in the 2022–2024 seasons. So he’s been close to cricket, just not as a head coach.