Thursday 9th October 2008
Constant humiliation got to 'dada'
Sourav Ganguly tells a Bengali daily he decided to quit because he did "not want to play cricket at the mercy of others".
"I was tired of being humiliated again and again. I don't want to play cricket at the mercy of others," Ganguly said in an interview published in a Bengali daily.
"It doesn't make sense to play cricket like this. I have played enough cricket," the former skipper told the daily after announcing that he would quit after playing the present series against Australia.
The southpaw said it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to put up with the constant humiliation.
Ganguly, who had scored heavily in Test cricket after his comeback in 2006 barring the recent away series against Sri Lanka, also wondered why he was the only player being targeted all the time.
"Everything is possible in Indian cricket. When Greg (Chappell) chopped me, TP Singh (of Railways and now with the ICL) was my replacement. Where is he now," he asked.
"There are players who haven't scored for last three series for India, even for the last one year. There are some who have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored for India."
Ganguly admitted that the decision to quit had hurt him emotionally.
"I am bound to feel bad. I had to fight with my heart. If there is a gun to your head all the time, how long can you bear this? After all, I have played 400 matches for India. I have played badly in only one series. Yet every Tom, Dick and Harry is playing in the team."
"I thought of ending all miseries before Durga Puja. There's too much confusion. People are double-faced and I can't take it anymore," he said when asked why he had chosen to announce his retirement on 'ashtami', considered the most auspicious day of the festival.
"I thought a lot before reaching this decision. I have also thought about my plans for the next one year. If this committee had come three years earlier, the situation would have been slightly better for me. I didn't expect to be chopped from the Irani Trophy team. I was really hurt by this incident," he added.
