By IANS,
London : Saurav Ganguly may have spoken a little too soon when he told a British tabloid that he still has a couple of years of cricket left in him.
He had no inkling that the national selectors were planning his farewell. He found himself out of contention for a place in the India team for the upcoming Test series against Australia when he was dropped from the Rest of India side for the Irani Trophy against Ranji Trophy Champions Delhi, the match being billed as a virtual selection trial. The team management apparently conveyed to the selectors that Sourav’s physical fitness falls well short of international cricketing standards, leading to his poor fielding.
Now it transpires that India’s most successful captain had told the London tabloid The Sun, while holidaying in England, that he is not thinking of retirement yet. For good measure he has also added that he is not driven by any financial considerations to continue playing, it is the sheer love for the game that keeps him going.
It may be recalled that former India coach Greg Chappell, who had suggested that Sourav should quit international cricket two years ago, had stated that the motivating factors for the former captain to continue playing was hefty central contract, match fee and perks.
“Now I would like to think I have a couple of years left. But I won’t say I’ll miss touring. I will miss the cricket we play — the satisfaction you get from scoring a century or from winning a Test,” Sourav was quoted as saying by the daily.
“You want to finish with reputation, not with people questioning your ability,” said the 36-year-old, who stunned the cricketing world by fighting his way back in the team in 2006 after being written off by critics.
Sourav, though, has taken in his stride that his ODIs career is all but over. He was dropped from the tri-series in Australia as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the selectors chose to build a team for the future.
Sourav said he knows he will not be there for the 2011 World Cup and it was time for grooming youngsters.
“I miss the one-day game but the older players understand they won’t be playing in the 2011 World Cup. So now it is time for the younger players to gain experience.”
“At present, I am playing Test cricket and Twenty20 in the Indian Premier League. With so much money involved in the IPL you still have to live up to the expectations. It doesn’t matter what age you are — you have to perform.”
“So I will finish both IPL and Test cricket at the same time — at this stage of my career I am not playing for financial gains, it’s all about the performance.”
Sourav thinks that IPL’s entertainment value will help it grow bigger in the years to come.
“IPL is like a movie show — three hours of big names and even teams owned by movie stars. But I fear the International Cricket Council will interfere with the IPL and try and control it more. With so much cricket, the future could be an international league.”