Yuvraj Singh in a sense tries to be a modern-day Ganguly, but I don’t think he has the charisma or the dignity with which Ganguly carries himself. That’s not to say that Yuvraj does not have charisma or dignity but Ganguly has something extra about him, a presence, and whether you like him or not he commands respect...

Before the start of the tournament, I contacted Greg Chappell for advice on what to expect from Sourav. Greg, who I first met in Brisbane club cricket in the early 1970s, had gained an insight into Sourav and the inner sanctum of Indian cricket during his appointment as Indian coach (2005-07). Indeed Greg had taken the courageous decision to at one stage drop Ganguly from the Indian side.

“If you want the easy path, just get on-side with Sourav and tell him what he wants to hear and let him have his own way. If he is happy and in the team, you won’t have any problems with him,” said Greg.

But at the end of the tournament I told Sourav something he did not want to hear. “I really think your game was off the pace and the more you play T20, the more harm you will do yourself,” I told him. “I felt I needed to say this to you before I left to go back to Australia — I wanted to be as honest as possible with you.”

Sourav responded to my frank assessment by claiming he had at least one more year of 20-over cricket in him. He told me his main aim was to get into the Test side against Australia, an aim he did achieve before announcing his Test retirement. He basically said to me: “Thank you for your concerns, but I don’t agree with what you are saying.”