Sourav Ganguly says Mahi asked him to lead India in his last innings

One of India’s greatest cricket captain, Sourav Ganguly, is all set to release his autobiography titled “A Century Is Not Enough” by the end of February.

The book will tell the journey of Dada since his start, how he became the ultimate comeback king, and how he dealt with all the turmoil.

In one of the chapters of the book, Dada tells his readers about how former Indian Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, asked him to lead the Indian side in his last test match in Nagpur. According to Ganguly, he had already refused once to lead the side, but when Mahi asked the second time, Dada could not refuse but surrender.

Ganguly says in one of the chapters, “As the match came to a close, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a surprise gesture asked me to lead. I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time. Ironically, my captaincy career had begun exactly eight years ago on this very day. I handled the bowling changes and field placements while the last Australian wicket batted.”

However, Dada handed over the captaincy back to Mahi just after three overs into it. He wrote, “But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So, after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled.”

Ganguly regretted that he missed out on a hundred in Nagpur as he was dismissed by Jason Krezja at 85 and then failed to get off the mark in his final innings.

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“The man the Indian selectors had kept on an indefinite trial did stand up to the Australian attack and walked away with a solid 85. I missed the coveted three-figure mark only by 15 runs but my friend Tendulkar lent an additional flavour to the party by getting a rock-solid hundred,” he wrote in his autobiography.

“What made the occasion happier was that we won the Test. I ended my final innings in Test cricket in a first-ball duck. Looking back, I still feel it was a loose shot as I tried to play Jason Krejza against the turn. The bat had closed early and Krejza easily accepted a low return catch. I have no regrets. It was a bad shot and I paid the price. But I still regret missing the hundred. It was mine for the taking,” he continued.

Ganguly also wrote about how he loves the Durga Puja season. He also tells his readers how he had to dress up like a ‘sardarji’ on one of the occasions when he was the Indian captain just to avoid the Kolkata crowd.

He wrote, “I am so hooked to the Pujas that I make it a point to always accompany the deity on her final ride. In Bengali, there is a semi-tragic word for it - bisharjon. This is when the deity is immersed in the Ganga. The scene is amazing - the energy is sky-high, the crowds full of joy and sorrow at seeing Durga Ma going away, it's truly memorable. The area around the river is so crowded that once, during my Indian captaincy days, I decided to go disguised as one of Harbhajan's tribe. Yes, disguised as a sardarji.”