Former South African skipper, Graeme Smith showered praises for the BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly for causing a paradigm shift in Indian cricket. Smith, who faced Ganguly for significant amount of time during his career, reckons that the former India captain had the attitude of giving it back to the opposition and it stood out. He was recently seen sharing his relationship with the former Indian skipper.

During a show in Star Sports, Smith said, “You knew if you poked Dada, you were going to get something back always. I have spent a fair amount of time with Dada now. Particularly in administration now, we are having a number of conversations over the telephone. He is always calm and approachable, always interested in a good conversation.”

Recalling Ganguly’s epic celebration at Lord’s when he took off his shirt and waved it after India’s win over England in the final of the 2002 Natwest Trophy, Graeme Smith said that teh celebration was the perfect reflection of the fearless attitude Ganguly led the team with.

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Explaining the same, Smith said, “I think all of us remember that celebration, it was a beautiful sight seeing Dada. It showed how much India winning meant to him and to overcome the challenge of winning the NatWest Trophy in England, to win away from home, driving Indian cricket forward. I think that shot epitomizes everything we have discussed today. But from a passion perspective, that speaks volumes about Dada.”

At 22, Smith became the captain of the Proteas in the year 2003 and even though he and Ganguly did not face each other a lot as opposition skippers, the former SA captain revealed there were occasions when they went at each other. However, things never went beyond control, and neither did Ganguly make Smith wait at the toss.

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Responding to the question of whether Ganguly ever made Smith wait during the toss, the latter explained, “No, he didn’t. We had one or two moments when we were at each other a little bit. I was quite feisty in my youth as a captain and certainly, we know that Dada never backed away.”