October 10, 2008	Friday	Shawwal 10, 1429

KOLKATA, Oct 9: Former Indian captain Saurav Ganguly, who will retire from international cricket after the Australian Test series, has said he was tired of the constant humiliation and at being singled out for scrutiny.

He has also issued a sharply worded criticism of his team-mates, saying some “have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored”.

“I am bound to feel bad. I had to fight with my heart,” he told Aajkal, a Bengali daily. “If there is a gun to your head all the time, how long can you bear this? After all, I have played 400 matches for India. I have played badly in only one series. Yet every Tom, Dick and Harry is playing in the team.

“There are players who haven’t scored in the last three series for India, even for the last one year. There are some who have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored for India.

“How long would I have played? Maybe upto 2009. Maybe seven more Tests. For that I was not prepared to take any more humiliation. I was tired of being humiliated again and again. I don’t want to play cricket at the mercy of others.”

Ganguly made an impressive return to international cricket after losing his captaincy, and his place in the side, in early 2006. “Everything is possible in Indian cricket,” he said. “When Greg [Chappell] dropped me, T.P. Singh [of Railways, now with the ICL] was my replacement. Where is he now?”

Asked what hurt more, being dropped by Chappell or being excluded from the Irani Trophy squad this year, Ganguly said: “Definitely the Irani Trophy. I couldn’t imagine being dropped for that. That’s when I said, not again.

“I thought a lot before reaching this decision. I have also thought about my plans for the next one year. If this [selection] committee had come three years earlier, the situation would have been slightly better for me.”—Agencies