Sourav Ganguly was a leader of the players: Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan stated that Sourav Ganguly was a true leader of the Indian cricket team. Irfan Pathan believes that Sourav Ganguly was the one who transformed the side completely.

The Indian team became more competitive under Sourav Ganguly as he instilled a belief in the team that they could compete against any opposition and beat them. Sourav Ganguly also focused on winning overseas series and helped India win Test matches in England and Australia.

One of the main reasons why Sourav Ganguly was a great leader was because he backed young players of the ilk of Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan, who went on to become world-class players for India and helped India win the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.

"Sourav Ganguly backed youngsters like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. He built the team when the India team was in a slump. People did not love cricket because it was a tough time for cricket in India. Making people love the Indian cricket team again, the credit should be given to Sourav Ganguly," Irfan Pathan told cricket.com

“That is why if we talk about leader, he was the leader of the players. Sourav Ganguly had only one agenda. To make sure Indian team grows. Nothing else,” Irfan Pathan further added.

Irfan Pathan recalls how Sourav Ganguly backed Yuvraj Singh

Irfan Pathan also spoke about how Sourav Ganguly backed his players that he felt were potential match-winners, especially Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj Singh had made a fantastic debut against Australia by scoring an important half century. However, post that, he endured a rough patch where he failed to contribute significantly.

But, Sourav Ganguly held on to Yuvraj SIngh and the latter proved just why he was a true match-winner. Yuvraj Singh played a crucial knock in the 2002 NatWest Trophy Final and also went on to become an important member of India's 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup squads.

Yuvraj Singh retired in 2019 as one of India's finest white-ball players.

“Sourav Ganguly wanted to make sure that he built the team. I remember Yuvraj Singh was struggling at the start of his career for quite a few matches. Ganguly backed him. He knew that if I back this guy, some amazing things can happen in the future and certainly it did happen," Irfan Pathan said.

Thus, Irfan Pathan opined that it was Sourav Ganguly's amazing leadership qualities and propensity to back youngsters that set him apart.