Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly in his debut book, ‘A Century is Not Enough’ revealed that his father wanted him to quit the ‘game of fame’ cricket when Greg Chappell did not pick him in the Indian squad.

Sourav Ganguly made some shocking revelation in his autobiography that is going to come out by the end of this month.

During the time when Greg Chappell was Indian’s head coach, Ganguly not only lost his captaincy but also his spot in the Indian squad.

In his book, Ganguly revealed that he felt “angry” and “disillusioned” after he was not selected in the Indian squad for Irani Trophy in 2008. Just a few months after the tournament, Ganguly announced his retirement.

Sourav Ganguly was so upset with the decision that he decided to call that time skipper Anil Kumble and asked him, whether he thought Ganguly was no longer the automatic choice for playing eleven? However, Kumble explained to him that he was not consulted before the selection committee chaired by Dilip Vengsarkar took this decision.

“Go and play domestic cricket and convey a strong message to the selectors. Around that time I could only think of one cricket tournament that was coming up, the JP Atrey Memorial Trophy in Chandigarh… I called MP Pandove, the lifeblood of the Punjab Cricket Association, to tell him I desperately needed a team to play. He was of immense help and quietly obliged me even though my request had come in at the last minute.”

“It was the seven toughest days of my cricketing career,” Ganguly writes.

When Ganguly was selected in the Indian squad for the first two Test matches of the Australian series and the Board President’s team that would take on the Australians in Chennai, he got the message loud and clear that he was once again been put on the trial basis and that’s when he decided to quit.

“I wouldn’t let anyone else decide my future anymore. I wouldn’t go through the ordeal again. I had had enough! Yes, I was angry. After reaching Bengaluru, I informed Kumble that my mind was made up and I would announce shortly,” writes Ganguly.

“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,” Ganguly further writes.

 “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,” Ganguly writes.

“So three years later when he heard the same person was throwing in the towel, he was surprised,” Ganguly added.

Ganguly also revealed that during his interaction with Kumble, the former spin wizard told him not to decide anything in a hurry.

“I assured him I would. 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,” he says.

“Cricketing history has recorded that I had an outstanding final series. Got a hundred in Mohali and narrowly missed the second in Nagpur,” Ganguly tells about his performance.