Already mired in controversies, Sourav Ganguly finds himself at the receiving end yet again. This time in the autobiography of Steve Waugh, who says the then Indian captain's bickering over pitches "was not too different from match-fixing".
In his autobiography 'Out Of My Comfort Zone', the former Australia skipper slams Ganguly's tendency to interact with groundsmen before international matches.
"He (Ganguly) was... constantly bickering over the nature of pitches and trying to influence the groundsmen in India. To me, this wasn't too different from match-fixing, because captains who try this on are attempting to alter the conditions in collusion with a force they shouldn't be tampering with," Waugh writes.
"It's a groundsman's job to prepare a pitch to the best of his ability, then hand it over to the players for them to adapt to the conditions. That's why it's called a 'Test'; it's supposed to challenge you, not appease your wishes."
The two former skippers shared a strained relationship during the two historic series that they were involved with, Ganguly's turning up late for toss during India's home series being the lowest point in their game of upmanship.
Mentioning the toss episode, Waugh says he was "wound up" by Ganguly's "continued petulance" in being late for the toss and then walking off by himself.
Waugh also calls Ganguly "elitist" and a "bloke who made a few rules for himself in his exalted position" in the book.
However, he does spare a good word for the Bengal left-hander, who was recently stripped of one-day and Test captaincy.
"I saw in Sourav a committed individual who wanted to inject some toughness and combativeness into a side that had often tended in the past to roll over and expose a soft underbelly."
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