Summary of this article
Sourav Ganguly said he asked Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble about match-fixing approaches during the early 2000s crisis
He admitted he had limited awareness of the issue at the time and learned about it within the dressing room
As captain post-scandal, he focused on rebuilding Indian cricket amid the fallout involving figures like Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has recalled how he personally questioned senior teammates Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble about whether they had ever been approached in connection with match-fixing, during a period when Indian cricket was engulfed in controversy.
In a podcast conversation with Raj Shamani, Sourav Ganguly revisited the early 2000s, a period when global cricket was rocked by widespread betting and match-fixing allegations.
He also reflected on his early days as India captain, noting how such discussions had already started surfacing within the team dressing room.
Ganguly, who was handed the India captaincy at the age of 27 in the aftermath of the crisis, said he initially had little awareness of how widespread such practices could be and sought clarity directly from within the dressing room.
“The issues the Indian team faced just before I became captain, betting, match-fixing, I didn’t even know about these things. I kept asking Sachin [Tendulkar] and Rahul [Dravid] whether this actually happened or if anyone had ever approached them, because nobody had come to me,” Ganguly said.
“So I asked Sachin, ‘Tujhe kisi ne puucha?’ He said no. We were all playing both formats, Tests and one-dayers. I asked Anil [Kumble] as well, and he said, ‘No. Nobody asked me’. So I wasn’t really sure what it even meant at that time. My focus was simply on the job in hand, so these things weren’t in my head,” he added.
The scandal had major repercussions across world cricket, with former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje emerging as a central figure, while Indian players Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were also caught in its aftermath.
As a result, Indian cricket entered a major transition phase, with Azharuddin handed a life ban and Jadeja suspended, forcing the team to rebuild its structure and credibility under intense public scrutiny.
Ganguly also spoke about the challenge of leading a dressing room that included players he had grown up watching and playing under.
“I still remember our first match was in Kochi. On the eve of the game, I had to address the team meeting. I told Dona that many of these guys – Azhar, Sachin – had been my captains. How was I supposed to tell them what to do and what not to do? I told her I would keep it short because the longer I spoke, the harder it would get."
"So we finished it in about 15 minutes, I said what I had to, and we moved on. The next day we won, and in the following match in Jamshedpur I scored a hundred. Things gradually settled,” he added.
Under Ganguly’s leadership, India entered a new era of competitiveness. The side registered significant overseas performances, including a historic Test series win in Pakistan, a drawn Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2003–04, victory in the NatWest Trophy in 2002, and a shared ICC Champions Trophy title the same year.
