Former India captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was indeed a legendary leader who took Indian team to several heights during his tenure. The southpaw was also one of the most skillful batsmen during his playing days.
Ganguly last played for India 12 years ago in 2008 but what if he holds the willow again and starts smashing bowlers? Well, the Kolkata-born has himself said that he could score runs in Test cricket again if he trains for three months and plays a few Ranji Trophy matches.
Ganguly said all this while remembering the last phase of his career in an interview with Bengali newspaper Sangbad Pratidin.
“If I was given two more series in ODIs, I would’ve scored more runs. If I hadn’t retired in Nagpur, I would’ve scored runs in the next two Test series too. In fact even now give me six months to train, let me play three Ranji games, I’ll score runs for India in Test cricket. I don’t even need six months, give me three, I will score runs,” said Ganguly.
“You might not give me an opportunity to play, but how will you break the belief inside me?” asked the former international.
Ganguly further talked about his ODI career stating that he was dropped abruptly from the ODI side despite being one of the top performers in the 2007-08 season.
“It was kind of unbelievable. I was dropped from the ODI side despite being one of the highest scorers of that calendar year. No matter how good your performance is if the stage is taken away from you, then what will you prove? And to whom? The same thing happened with me,” Ganguly added.
The time that Ganguly referred to was during the Greg Chappell era. The left-handed batsman was dropped from the Indian side after being stripped of the captaincy in 2005. However, he made a strong comeback in the South Africa series in 2006 and then went on to score plenty of runs. Still, he was dropped from the ODI side for the Australia tour in 2007-08. Then, a year later, Ganguly announced his retirement from international cricket.
Ganguly has accumulated 7212 runs in 113 Tests at an average of 42.17. He smashed 16 centuries in the longest format. When it comes to ODIs, the Bengali lad has scored 11363 runs in 311 matches at an average of 41.02. Also, he has 22 tons to his name in the 50-overs format.
