Ranadeb Bose and Devang Gandhi in the city on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: He has already started to screen calls on his cell phone and the ‘star’ label is slowly but surely stcking to him. Tell this to Ranadeb Bose and he offers a sheepish smile.

“Ki je bolo,” he blushes. “I have received umpteen calls since Tuesday evening and there have been moments when the cellphone battery had to be recharged… This forced me to switch it off on a few occasions.”

As a result, even Sourav Ganguly failed to get through. Once Ranadeb came to know, he called up the former India captain on Wednesday. “Maharajda congratulated me and wished me luck… Having him around will be a big advantage in England,” he said.

The endless stream of visitors and mediamen at his Southern Avenue residence apart, there have been umpteen congratulatory messages from across the country. “All of the messages have been special,” he said, refusing to single out any one in particular.

The several SMSes included two from Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina.

The initial euphoria over, things have started to sink in. “I am enjoying the moment now. The feeling was vague yesterday… I was merely going through the motions then. It had all seemed to happen so quickly.

“Today, reality has started to sink in. I hope to get a chance in the tour games and pick wickets… To impress the team management with my attitude and performance will be of the utmost importance,” he said.

Wednesday morning’s downpour forced him to stay indoors, but in the evening he went over to childhood mentor Gopal Bose’s residence to seek his advice.

“All this wouldn’t have been achieved without Sir’s efforts.”

He is sparing no effort and repaying the faith shown in him by the selectors tops his list of priorities.