BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla was full of praise for Sachin Tendulkar and how he held the Indian team together, but his anecdotes were all seemingly at the expense of former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
Shukla said had it not been for Tendulkar, most of the players would have taken off their shirts and waved after the magnificent victory in the Natwest Trophy against England.
"Sourav wanted that all the players do it. Maybe he wanted to pay back Andrew Flintoff in the same coin. But Sachin came and whispered in my ears that 'this should not be done. It's a gentleman's game and if Sourav wants to do it let him do.'," Shukla said
The BCCI Vice-President also revealed that it was Tendulkar who saved then coach John Wright from embarrassment as Ganguly wanted the New Zealander to apologise to Virender Sehwag for "slapping" him during the Oval match.
"I saw Sehwag in a bad mood. When I asked him he said that John had slapped him. It became an issue and Ganguly insisted that they will not leave (dressing room) unless Wright apologises to Sehwag. Then I found Wright and asked him if he did it. John said that 'he wanted Sehwag to score a century but Sehwag repeated his mistake of lifting the ball and got out, so I was angry. And he is like a disciple to me so I just pushed him out of anger'.
"Sachin came to me and said that 'you must ensure that John does not apologise, otherwise the coach will lose his respect'. I got back to Sehwag and explained that it was just like a father chides his son, John did it. He understood and let it go," Shukla said.
Shukla said had it not been for Tendulkar, most of the players would have taken off their shirts and waved after the magnificent victory in the Natwest Trophy against England.
"Sourav wanted that all the players do it. Maybe he wanted to pay back Andrew Flintoff in the same coin. But Sachin came and whispered in my ears that 'this should not be done. It's a gentleman's game and if Sourav wants to do it let him do.'," Shukla said
The BCCI Vice-President also revealed that it was Tendulkar who saved then coach John Wright from embarrassment as Ganguly wanted the New Zealander to apologise to Virender Sehwag for "slapping" him during the Oval match.
"I saw Sehwag in a bad mood. When I asked him he said that John had slapped him. It became an issue and Ganguly insisted that they will not leave (dressing room) unless Wright apologises to Sehwag. Then I found Wright and asked him if he did it. John said that 'he wanted Sehwag to score a century but Sehwag repeated his mistake of lifting the ball and got out, so I was angry. And he is like a disciple to me so I just pushed him out of anger'.
"Sachin came to me and said that 'you must ensure that John does not apologise, otherwise the coach will lose his respect'. I got back to Sehwag and explained that it was just like a father chides his son, John did it. He understood and let it go," Shukla said.
