Former Indian captain and BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly recently revealed how he actually became a cricketer by “accident”. He revealed the same while interacting with learners during an online class on the ‘Unacademy app’.
Ganguly said that he loved football and was pretty good at it in his school but was asked by his father to join a cricket coaching to keep him away from doing mischiefs.
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“Football was my life. I was very good at it till class nine. During one summer vacation, my father (late Chandi Ganguly, who was in the Cricket Association of Bengal) told me you’re doing nothing at home go and practice. He put me into a cricket academy,” one of India’s most successful captain said.
“I loved going there because it kept me away from home my parents, my brothers, my family, who were very disciplined. For me, this was a time away from them. I don’t know what my coach saw in me he told my father you should take him out of football. So I got into cricket,” he added.
The Prince of Calcutta, who led India to many memorable wins, recalled getting a hundred against Odisha in an age-group match at Eden Gardens.
“Five-six players got sick because of typhoid and an SOS came our academy. I was fortunate to be one of them. I was nowhere but I got a hundred and then everything went off well. I became an accidental cricketer.”
The King of Off-side revealed that since he had to fit into his elder brother Snehashish’s kits, he became a left-hander himself.
“I had stopped playing for two-three months since then and then the CAB called for the trials. I had no kit. My brother played cricket and he was a lefthander. I had to adjust to a left-hander’s kit, the gloves and all,” the 47-year-old said.
”I’m lucky that I played this game. I have seen this game evolve from the time I started,” Ganguly said adding that his real inspiration came when the Kapil Dev-led India lifted the World Cup for the first time in 1983,” he added.
Ganguly picked the hundred which he scored on his Test debut at Lord’s as the best moment of his career.
“I had a debut hundred in Duleep Trophy, made a debut in Ranji final for Bengal but it was like a fairytale to get hundred at Lord’s.”
“It will remain with me forever. My mindset that day I feel was the best that I had ever. Maybe the destiny was with me to become a Test cricketer. I proved myself that I belong here,” he added.
