By IANS,
Nagpur : In a remarkable gesture to his former captain Sourav Ganguly, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed him the reins of captaincy in the closing overs of the fourth and last cricket Test against Australia here.
With one wicket left for India to wrap up a hard-fought series 2-0 against Australia, Ganguly promptly took charge of the team for one last time. The Dada of yore was back marshalling his troop with the same aura that made him India’s most successful skipper.
Exactly eight years ago on this day Ganguly made his debut as a captain against Bangladesh in Dhaka and it was only fitting that he ended as the leader to finish a memorable series.
Dhoni also did not forget Anil Kumble, who abruptly ended his career after the third Test at Kotla owing to an injury. Kumble was present in the dressing room to cheer the team.
Dhoni, who took over as captain from him here, called his predecessor onto the dais to receive the Border-Gavaskar Trophy along with him.
Dhoni said both Ganguly and Kumble are stalwarts of Indian cricket and they will be missed in the dressing room. “No-one can replace them, but it will be a challenge for the youngsters to fill the vacuum.
“They are marvelleous cricketers, they have done everything besides captaining. When we grew up we saw them playing. We did not think we would be in the same dressing room one day. The youngsters will have a tough task filling their shoes. They just need to concentrate on doing their best, not replacing them.”