Have a lot of respect for Ganguly: Shastri

A week ago, it was Ganguly who had cleared the air on his part, stating that rumours of bad blood between him and the head coach of the Indian cricket team are merely “speculations”. “As far as the Sourav-Shastri ‘game’ goes, that is a brilliant chaat and bhelpuri for the media with all mirch and masala,” Shastri said during a channel show.

“What he (Ganguly) has done as a cricketer, I have got utmost respect. He took over Indian cricket at the most troubled times - post the match-fixing era when the team was in shambles. You needed the faith of the people to come back and I respect that. And if people don’t respect that, to hell with them,” added Shastri.

The Ganguly-Shastri relationship became a topic of discussion after the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman preferred Anil Kumble over the current coach in 2016, with both having a public fallout. Shastritermed Ganguly’s ascension as the President of the cricket board as “outstanding”.

“Outstanding (Sourav as BCCI President). First of all, I am thrilled that there is a BCCI in place. We played three years without BCCI, which allowed the ICC to take off to another level.”