Click to play videoSourav Ganguly announced his decision to bid adieu to international cricket at the end of the Test series against the visiting Australians. Ganguly has admitted that the fact that he wasn't selected for the Irani trophy disappointed him.
Did Sourav Ganguly choose the right moment to retire? On the panel to discuss the topic were Senior Associate Editor, The Telegraph, Lokendra Pratap Sahi and sports journalist Sharda Ugra.
Sahi said, “Sourav had been under a lot of pressure and he was particularly upset the day he was dropped for Irani. He thought that he’s the only one who was being singled out. And to a large extent, I think I agree with it.”
Sourav said he dropped from Irani Trophy and then he went public with statements saying he was disappointed just before the test match. Does Sourav have this victims’ halo around his head?
Agreeing that Sourav did the right thing by calling it a day, Sharda said, “I think the last two years he has had all the reasons to feel victimised and under pressure and scrutiny.”
Many say that Sourav was pushed to call it quits.
Sharda said that it was unlikely that that could have happened as it was not easy for people to tell Sourav what to do.
“Sourav does what he wants to do. It could have been a bit of both things but I have no independent knowledge on it.” Sharda said.
Sourav gave an interview to a Bengali daily saying he was humiliated at being struck out by the selectors. Now he says that he never gave the interview at all. Is there something wrong with Bengali sports journalism or Sourav Ganguly?”
Refusing to comment on Bengali journalism Sahi said, “I didn’t go through the translation of what was supposedly a transcript of an interview with him. Some of the comments attributes to him seemed absolutely outrageous. Even in the most off-the-record conversations, Sourav has never made comments like that, at least not to me. Even if did, his comments could have been off-the-record and never meant to be published.”
What does Sourav Ganguly mean for Indian cricket?
“I think,” Sharda said,” Sourav is one of the most influential figures in Indian cricket at the moment. The last 7-8 years when he was the captain, he was controversial, colourful and very much his own man. He was always defiant and changed the way Indian team played and approached cricket.”
“He was youngistan before it became trendy,” Sharda added.
Underscoring the loss for Bengal cricket Sahi said, “Except for a very promising wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, I don’t see anybody who has the potential to make it big in the immediate future, so it is very bad new for Bengal cricket. A lot of cricketers who aspire to be Sourav, I don’t think half of them are willing or have the drive to put in the same effort which he did in the earlier years so that’ disappointing.”
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