Calcutta: Sourav Ganguly, who returned home to a tumultuous welcome on Tuesday evening, said his feelings were no different to the one in 1996. Sourav came back from England in 1996 to a similar welcome after scoring a couple of centuries in his debut Test series.
“It’s the same feeling… People gathered to congratulate me when I came back from England in 1996… They were here when I came back from South Africa after the World Cup final…,” the former India captain said at his Behala residence.
“Retirement is part of a sportsman’s life… Great players like Pele, Maradona, Sampras all retired from playing… Even Tendulkar will retire after sometime…”
The southpaw said he will not miss cricket but would miss the company of his teammates. “I don’t think I will miss cricket… But will definitely miss the company of Sachin, Rahul and everybody in the team,” he said.
Sourav sounded very satisfied with India’s 2-0 series win against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“We played this series very well… We won the second Test and dominated them all through the series… We actually outplayed them this time… It was fantastic,” he said.
The former India captain declined to comment on who would be his replacement in the Indian Test side. “There will be replacement… Let’s leave it on the selectors… It’s their job,” Sourav quipped.
Sourav picked his Lord's debut Test, his first captaincy and the recent series win against Australia as the Big Three moments in his career.
He added that he is yet to decide on his future plans. “Just wait and see... I have not thought about it yet. Opportunities are coming… But I will definitely do something that will contribute to the game. IPL is in April, there's a long way to go...”
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) officials, who failed to send a representative during Sourav’s last Test in Nagpur, were present at the airport.
CAB joint-secretaries Arun Mitra and Biswarup Dey and former joint secretary Samar Paul were present with bouquets at the Dumdum airport to receive Bengal’s most successful cricketer.
The CAB will felicitate Sourav at Eden Gardens on December 7.
