Ganguly regrets hasty international retirement

[1983-2011]

Kolkata: Turning 40 might club him in the league of veterans but Sourav Ganguly is not yet ready to throw in the towel as far as his participation in the next edition of IPL is concerned. "I will take a call next season. As a matter of fact, I would not be even 41 when the IPL 6 would begin in 2013," Ganguly, who turns 40 on Sunday, said when asked about his plans for next year's Indian Premier League. This despite a poor fifth season for Pune Warriors India as the team's skipper. Ganguly is a believer and 40 is just a number for him. Talking to PTI, Ganguly said: "40 is just a number to me. For me life is simple and consistent. It (the age) does not matter to me, it makes no difference at all. Taking a dig at his detractors, India's most successful Test captain had earlier said: "I'm also a human and prone to failures. Somehow you have to deal with it. Many captains have failed (in the IPL) but it's Sourav Ganguly who always makes the headlines." Asked to pick his finest moment as a cricketer, the stylish left-hander, who guided India to the 2003 World Cup final, said his entire life has been satisfying. "I cherish my entire life. I've been blessed with a life full of good memories," Ganguly, who has the most number of Test wins (21) as captain of India, said. At the same time, he refused to talk about former coach Greg Chappell with whom he had a stormy relationship, leading to his ouster from the Indian team in 2005. Asked whether he regrets his decision of bringing the Aussie and get him the Indian coaching job, Ganguly said: "As I've said earlier, I don't want to talk about Greg Chappell." He might not have put it in as many words, but Ganguly obviously seemed unhappy about Chappell's fresh salvo at him in one of the articles in a book on Rahul Dravid. "Sadly, the success of the team (under Dravid) was not universally enjoyed within the team. Some individuals felt threatened by the new world order and appeared to work against Rahul...," wrote Chappell in the book 'Timeless Steel'. The Aussie did not name anybody but many believed that he pointed his fingers at Ganguly again. "I've read his comments. I don't think it has put me against Dravid," Ganguly said. Sachin Tendulkar might be regularly opting out of the one-dayers but Ganguly felt the veteran Mumbaikar has the right to pick and choose. "He is Sachin. He has got the right to do it. That's the way it is for the youngsters. He comes and performs for the team." Recently, Dravid had expressed his apprehension about the future of Test cricket 10 years down the line, but Ganguly thought otherwise. "It's difficult to predict what will happen 10 years down the line. No matter what, Test cricket will survive. I've always said Twenty20 would be popular but there will be a place for Test cricket," said Ganguly, who is also the BCCI's technical committee chairman. He was also not unduly concerned by the fact that India's next generation batsmen came a cropper and lost the first-class series (1-2) during the recent 'A' tour of the West Indies. Asked whether India's bench strength was not up to the mark, Ganguly said: "We will find that out. I don't think one has to worry just on the basis of the outcome of a series." Ganguly refused to pick his favourites for the World T20 in Sri Lanka and said: "It's Twenty20, anything can happen in the format. It's very difficult to predict and pick a favourite team in this format." http://cricketnext.in.com/live/news/ganguly-already-looking-ahead-to-ipl-6/66736-13.html

[adi B]

hppy bday dada !!!!

[Guest]

Congrats :pw: and supporters....another 9th place guaranteed..:yay:

[Crookbond]

[Dravid_TheWall]

This is good. Dada needs to get his ODI aggression back. I hope he succeeds. Nice seeing old favourite players dominate IPL. Problem is he will probably end up with a SR of 98 and average of 20. I think he needs to stop with trying cute shots, stick to his strength and train hard. Also should bowl to increase his worth. Remember he got KP and his hair fell off.

[1983-2011]

Congrats :pw: and supporters....another 9th place guaranteed..:yay:

he wont be the captain and yuvi neither, it'll be a firangi this time

[1983-2011]

This is good. Dada needs to get his ODI aggression back. I hope he succeeds. Nice seeing old favourite players dominate IPL. Problem is he will probably end up with a SR of 98 and average of 20. I think he needs to stop with trying cute shots, stick to his strength and train hard. Also should bowl to increase his worth. Remember he got KP and his hair fell off.

he needs to get a better wig or maybe go to tendyas hair dresser

[J P K]

[asterix]

Congrats :pw: and supporters....another 9th place guaranteed..:yay:

Poor Andy... :phehehe:

[Sidhoni]

He'll have to buy his own team to play in it :phehehe:

[ChanaLal]

PWI needs a specialist T20 Head Coach or someone versed in coaching in the subcontinent but NOT from the subcontinent. Any ideas of successful T20 Head Coaches who can do this? I am assuming everyone is going to mention Australian names.

[vvvslaxman]

Ganguly regrets hasty international retirement http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/571585.html Ganguly regrets hasty international retirement Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain who quit international cricket in 2008, has said he could have extended his career by a couple of years. Since ending his 113-Test career four years ago, Ganguly has played four seasons of the IPL besides domestic cricket for Bengal. "I do regret my decision (to retire) sometimes, that I should not have acted in anger," Ganguly said, in an interview to the Kolkata-based Telegraph on the occasion of his 40th birthday. "But I did and... That bit is done and dusted... Yes, I could have played for another two years." Ganguly had a poor tour of Sri Lanka in 2008, averaging only 16 in series where India's batsmen found it hard to pick the variations of Ajantha Mendis. He was then left out of a full-strength Rest of India side for the Irani Cup in what was widely seen as a signal that the selectors wanted to drop him from the Test team. Less than a month later, Ganguly announced his retirement. "I didn't have one good series (in Sri Lanka) and, when the Irani Trophy squad was announced, my name was missing," he said. "I'd stopped enjoying my game because I was thinking about things not related to my game, to my cricket. I could have probably just said 'Let them do what they want' and wait for my time." After his international retirement, Ganguly has been in four seasons of the IPL. There has been speculation over whether the 2012 season would be his last as his side Pune Warriors finished bottom of the table. Ganguly didn't rule out playing another season, though. "We have three-year contracts (with Warriors) and I have a year to go... There's time, let's see."

[Shunya]

gangu has gone insane...he should stay away from media and mic for a while...

[Dravid_TheWall]

He has a point. We still haven't fill his no6 test position, he said himself once :giggle:

[b555]

media blues :wall:

[Guest]

Looks like he is targeting some one :giggle: dont blame him no one wants to retire easily....

[Tiger-Don]

I wanna see him back in action again :) not joking or anything....but i think he still has about 3 more years in him.

[Tiger-Don]

^^^ Ian Pont...guy is fantastic! former bangladeshi bowling coach and current Dhaka Gladiators Coach! Under him, bangladesh banlgawashed the kiwis, our bangla bowlers (especially our pacers) gained confidence that they never had before and also the Gladiators won the 1st edition of Bpl. Best ting about him is that he can bring the best out of any player in the world and he's fantastic! Not meaning to brag or anything but if u notice, the kiwis really struggled to score in that series against our pacers and spinners!

[rkt.india]

I wanna see him back in action again :) not joking or anything....but i think he still has about 3 more years in him.

He at least has 30-40 years in him.

[Prakat]

Big secret gangs