Ganguly announces retirement from all forms of cricket

KOLKATA - Three days after his chances of playing the fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) were dashed, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Monday announced his retirement from all forms of the game.

“I see no possibility of playing IPL now. I don’t see any point in continuing playing cricket,” Ganguly said in an exclusive interview to news channel Headlines Today.

“I was playing Ranji Trophy only to stay fit for IPL,” Ganguly said, two years after quitting international cricket.

Rated as one of the greatest-ever skippers of the Indian team, Ganguly had led the national squad successfully for five years.

He had announcement retirement from international cricket on Oct 7, 2008 in Bangalore, at the beginning of the home Test series against Australia.

Since then, Ganguly had been turning out in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders and for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.

However, the Kolkatan did not find any takers among the IPL franchise teams in the fresh auction held last month ahead of the fourth IPL.

The Kochi franchisee later evinced interest in Ganguly, but the move proved futile as other franchises objected to the move.

“Kochi had asked me if I would play for them. I had said yes. The rule should have been changed,” he said.

Expressing disappointment over none of the franchises including his old team Kolkata Knight Riders expressing interest in him, Ganguly said: “Cricketing logic and past performance suggests I should have been picked. There are so many other reasons for which I can be dropped, but not performance”.

Describing Ganguly’s decision as “sad and unfortunate”, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Jagmohan Dalmiya said: “I think we should request Sourav to reconsider his decision”.