Deep Dasgupta, Pranab Roy and Rohan Gavaskar were back at the Eden on Sunday for Sourav Ganguly’s felicitation. The trio had earlier been barred by the CAB owing to their association with the rebel Indian Cricket League. Picture by Gautam Bose

Calcutta: A few “frozen truths” were revealed during Sourav Ganguly’s interaction with eight Bengal captains — under whom he played for the state — in an open forum that provided an ‘Insider’s View’ of the cricketer and the captain.

The occasion: The former India captain’s felicitation at the Eden.

The eight captains — Sambaran Banerjee, Pranab Roy, Syed Saba Karim, Utpal Chatterjee, Devang Gandhi, Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta and Laxmi Ratan Shukla — were joined by another former captain, Arun Lal, as moderator.

It was a no holds barred session that had Sourav at times ducking for cover.

From often failing to be punctual to being scared of sleeping alone — the unknown side of Sourav was laid bare.

Lal set the ball rolling narrating an incident during the early days when a burglar sneaked into the room he was sharing with Sourav — through the toilet window— with a sword demanding valuables. “Sourav was so scared that he refused to use the bathroom even hours after he had left,” recalled Lal as the gathering broke into peals of laughter.

Saba remarked how Sourav made his “life miserable as captain” when standing at slips he would constantly chalk out strategies into his ears.

There was also the serious stuff. Sourav recounted the days of his toil and sweat after getting dropped in 2005. He also said that the events then had taught him quite a few lessons.

“Getting dropped is obviously not a happy situation. It was disappointing.

“This holds true for everyone and in every sport, with only Sachin Tendulkar being an exception... Remember getting dropped and picked is a part and parcel of everyone’s life,” said Sourav.

“I told myself that I must consider myself lucky to have played more than 400 ODIs then… There was no point cribbing and complaining. That would have got me nowhere. I took it in my stride and waited for the opportunity,” he added.

“In fact, I had given up at one point of time. But all my family members, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and the people here supported me a lot. I knew by getting disappointed and sitting at home won’t get me a place in the team. So I had to go through the grind.

“There were players like Harbhajan (Singh) and (Virender) Sehwag who stood up and then had to face the brunt of getting dropped. I knew something wrong was happening at the selection.

“Remember those are the players who are still the match winners... It’s important for a captain to generate trust among your players, who stand up during the difficult times. When you win matches everybody will go overboard, but when you are not doing well, it’s your players who support you.”

Sourav also asked Pranab Roy, East’s representative on the selection panel during those turbulent days, to narrate exactly what happened at meetings. “I don’t think it is the right place and platform to discuss that issue… You know everything since we have discussed it in great detail,” Pranab told the former India captain. Sourav agreed.

Recollecting how he got into the Bengal XI at the expense of his brother Snehashish in the Ranji Trophy final against Delhi in 1989-90, he said: “I didn’t know about it till my father told me after I returned from my tuition two days before the match. He asked me about the match, and I said yes, I am in the XV. But he said ‘you are in the XI.’ I was happy and in the excitement I did not inquire who was dropped.

“Only at night my mother told me that my elder brother was dropped. It didn’t affect me as I was very excited then but later I realised that my brother was disappointed. But then we won the Ranji Trophy and he again made a comeback the next season... Everything became normal.”

The former India captain also didn’t forget to thank coach Debu Mitra for all his support and guidance.