Sourav Ganguly reveals his father wanted him to quit cricket after being dropped
Sourav Ganguly, revealed in his book, A century is not enough, that his father could not see him being dropped consistently from the India team during Greg Chappell’s stint and asked him to retire from international cricket. Ganguly’s new book is expected to be released on February 24 this year.
Sourav Ganguly's autobiography, ‘A Century is Not Enough’, co-authored by Gautam Bhattacharya and published by Juggernaut Books, is set be released on the February 24 this year. The book reveals the incidents that occurred with Ganguly during Chappell’s reign as India’s head coach, that had frustrated his father who had asked to retire from international cricket. The publishing house has also posted a free preview on the first chapter ‘Announcing the End’ of this book.
Even after scoring 1106 runs in 2007 and proving his worth in the squad, Greg Chappell’s treatment of Ganguly had left him out of the Rest of India squad for the 2008 Irani Trophy. His exclusion made him ‘angry’ and felt ‘disillusioned’ with the selectors months before he announced his retirement. Ganguly was so agitated with his exclusion from the team that he decided to call Anil Kumble, whose was captaining the side that year.
"I asked him point-blank, did he think I was no longer an automatic choice in his eleven? Kumble - the gentleman that he has always been - seemed embarrassed with my call. He told me he hadn't been consulted before the selection committee chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar took this decision," PTI quoted Ganguly’s lines from the book.
He also asked the captain whether he believed that his team wanted his services, to which he replied, "Kumble's reply consoled me. He said if it came to him taking the call, he would pick me again for the upcoming Test match selection. I heaved a great sigh of relief."
Ganguly, who had
"The Board President's XI is traditionally used to vet the potential of promising youngsters or assess veterans whose Test future is uncertain. I was included in it as well. These teams got picked by the new selection committee under Krishnamachari Srikkanth, ” recalled the 45-year-old.
"But its mindset seemed to be no different from the previous committees. The message was crystal clear - that a veteran of 100-plus Test matches, a certain Sourav Ganguly, was again on trial."
Ganguly’s growing frustration revealed his desire to call it a day from international cricket which he has revealed in a chat with his father
"I felt extremely agitated. That is when I told my father that I needed to call it a day. Enough was enough. My father was a bit surprised. In the past when Greg Chappell had kept me out of the team and I was desperately fighting to claw my way back, he had wanted me to retire, unable to bear his son's struggle.Then I had resisted. I had told him, Bapi (father), you wait. I will be back. I still have cricket left in me. When I grow older I don't want to sit on my sofa and tell myself, Sourav, you gave up when the going was tough. You should have tried harder. I wanted to catch the bull by its horns and win," he revealed.
Another chat with Kumble reveals, the skipper asking Ganguly not to take any decision in a hurry and Ganguly assured him saying, "I assured him I wouldn't. But deep down I knew my time was up. I made up my mind that I would give everything I had to be successful in this series."
Ganguly scored 324 runs in his final series of his career which was against Australia. Ganguly was satisfied with his performance in the series which included a century.
"Cricketing history has recorded that I had an outstanding final series. Got a hundred in Mohali and narrowly missed the second in Nagpur," wrote the former Indian captain on his performance.
Sharing a moment of an interview after the Test match, he said, "In Mohali, a journalist came and asked, 'Did the hundred give you special pleasure because Greg Chappell was watching it from the Australian camp?' I said, at this stage of my cricketing career it didn't matter at all. I had got past all that. For me, he didn't exist anymore."
He played his last Test match on November 6 in Nagpur in which he had refused an initial offer from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to captain the Indian side but then agreed to captain in the second innings.
"I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time. Ironically, my captaincy career had begun exactly eight years ago on this very day. I handled the bowling changes and field placements while the last Australian wicket batted.But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled," he wrote.
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