Ganguly thinks he is still good for international cricket

Kolkata, Feb 2 (PTI) Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly
might have walked into the sunset of his cricketing career,
but he Monday said he is still good enough to play both forms
of the game at the international level for at least a year.

Asked if he is still good enough for international
cricket at 36 years of age, Ganguly replied, "Two-hundred
percent."

"I think I am still good enough for both forms of
cricket. I played my best in my last years. If I had played, I
could have easily continued for at least one or one-and-half
years more.

"But that's not possible now, though. One has to accept
the fact that retirement was part and parcel of a
sportsperson's life," Ganguly said.

"I have Indian Premier League to look forward to. But
turning out in the IPL could not be compared to playing for
India," he added.

Ganguly was speaking at a function to release 'Dada
Tantra', a book based on him and authored by sports journalist
Goutam Bhattacharya.

"You have to see life as a bigger picture. Cricket is
just a part of it. Time is the biggest factor and in due
course I am sure people will forget the professional part of
me," Ganguly said.

The left-handed batsman, who had an infamous spat with
the then India coach Greg Chappell which led to his exclusion
from the team in 2005, said the Aussie's contribution in his
ouster was very little.

"There were other persons in the board and in selection
committee who influenced him. I don't think Greg's role in
that episode was more than 15 per cent," Ganguly said.

"Those one-and-half months, I was very upset. When you
see wrong things happening against you, obviously you get more
angry than normal."

Ganguly said he chose not to say anything against
Chappell but do the talking with his bat.

"Greg Chappell then lost his job as coach. Eventually, I
made a comeback under Rahul Dravid and went on to reach
another milestone -- to play 100 Tests which was a personal
goal for me. I chose my bat and ball to do the needful.

Narrating about the mental agony he went through during a
lean patch in 2003-04, Ganguly said, "There was a time when I
would check in the internet and look for the top three-four
players and their statistics. How much runs, centuries they
have scored to get there.

"But eventually, it was not of any help and was a sheer
waste of time. Success, failure, agony are part of every
sportperson's life. But instead of wasting energy pondering
about that one should work hard for the next stage," he said
when asked about the formula for success. PTI TAP