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Gilchrist slams Ganguly and Harbhajan now

Adam Gilchrist has taken digs at Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh for their decision to opt out of the 2004 Nagpur Test against Australia, a match that gave the visitors their first series win in the country in 35 years. His comments are part of his autobiography where he also questioned the evidence given by Sachin Tendulkar in the Harbhajan racism case.

Ganguly, India’s captain during the 2004 series, pulled out on the morning of the Test complaining of pain in the groin, while Harbhajan missed the game after contracting flu. Gilchrist, who was leading Australia in the series in place of the injured Ricky Ponting, wrote that there was speculation that Ganguly skipped the match because of the grassy pitch.

“There was speculation that Sourav Ganguly was quarrelling with the head of cricket in Nagpur and a rumour that a spicy pitch might be prepared out of spite or revenge against the captain,” Gilchrist wrote in his book True Colours. “When I got to the middle, Ganguly was not there. [Rahul] Dravid was in his blazer, ready for the toss. ‘Where’s Sourav,’ I said. “Rahul couldn’t answer definitively; between the lines I perceived that Sourav might have pulled out from fear of losing a home series.”

At the start of the third Test in Nagpur, Australia were leading the four-match series 1-0.

Of Harbhajan, Gilchrist wrote that he was out of the Test “with a ‘flu’, which he seemed to have contracted when he saw the grassy wicket”. “…I still don’t know to this day what was wrong with Ganguly and Harbhajan.”

Tags: adam gilchrist, harbhajan singh, sourav ganguly