Sourav Ganguly’s Photo Disguised as Sardarji to Visit Durga Puja Pandal, Reveals Debut Book 'A Century is Not Enough'
Ganguly in his debut book ‘A Century is not Enough: My Roller-coaster Ride to Success’ shares about the incident when he decided to visit Durga Puja Pandal as ‘one of Harbhajan’s tribe.’
Can you imagine how would Sourav Ganguly look like in a Sardarji avatar? If not, do not fret. See the picture shared by publisher Juggernaut along with the interesting tale from the life of Prince of Kolkata. It is no secret that former Indian skipper Ganguly continues to rule cricket fans even years after his retirement. Popularly called Dada, the 45-year-old has donned a new hat and that of a writer. Ganguly in his debut book ‘A Century is not Enough: My Roller-coaster Ride to Success’ shares about the incident when he decided to visit Durga Puja Pandal as ‘one of Harbhajan’s tribe.’
It is not easy to lead a routine life as a star cricketer in a country like ours where the sport is considered a religion and the players are no less than gods. There is always a crowd waiting to catch a glimpse or take an autograph. Staying constantly under the public spotlight can be tiresome. The case was no different for Sourav, arguably one of country’s biggest cricketing icon.
Like any average Bengali, Ganguly too has been an ardent lover of Durga Puja festival. He loves visiting pandal during Durga Ashtami but with his swarming fans and followers, it was almost impossible for him to attend the festival during his playing days as Team India captain. In his upcoming book, Dada narrated the incident during one such Durga Puja festival when he disguised as Sardarji to avoid the crowd and media attention.
Despite the high risk of getting revealed, the excitement of joining his family members and friends at Durga Visarjan got the better of Ganguly. His excerpts published in the book preview at Juggernaut’s page reads, “My wife, Dona, had arranged for a make-up artist to come home to turn me from a hardcore Bengali into a convincing-looking Sikh. My cousins all mocked me, saying I would be recognized. I gave as good as I got and took up the challenge.” The former southpaw had made up his mind as he “decided to go disguised as one of Harbhajan’s tribe. Yes, disguised as a sardarji.”
However, his cousins were proven right as Ganguly was recognized and none other than a policeman! Ganguly adds, “I was not allowed on the truck by the police and had to follow it in our car with my daughter, Sana. As the car reached the Babughat area the police inspector peered in through the window, looked closely at me and smiled gently in recognition. I was embarrassed but asked him to keep my secret. The escapade was worth it. The immersion scene around the river is just indescribable. You have to see it to understand it. Durga Ma, after all, comes only once a year.”
A new crop of players may come and go, but very few can attain what Ganguly did in his successful career both as a player and a captain. ‘A Century is not Enough: My Roller-coaster Ride to Success’ published by Juggernaut is described as a sporting classic and a manual for living. The great cricketer has not only written about the funny anecdotes, highs, good times but also the tough and challenging phase that shaped his life as well as Indian cricket team.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2018 11:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).