Ganguly felicitated

By Our Sports Reporter

CALCUTTA, APRIL 3. Sourav Ganguly did relish the occasion when Calcutta decided to formally toast his captaincy of the Indian team in a felicitation organised by the West Bengal government at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday. But the star batsman kept himself really steady while facing the gush of praise showered by the high and mighty of the State's administration that included the Chief Minister Mr. Jyoti Basu.

``I am not the captain at the moment as the Board (BCCI) is still to name anyone for the post in the coming assignments,'' Ganguly said.

``My captaincy started off well with a good home series against South Africa but that was contrasted by the slump in performance in Sharjah.

As captain I always try to give in my best and so is the case with rest of my colleagues in the team. But it is not always that success comes our way despite an all out eagerness to excel,'' Ganguly added.

The best of the tribute came form the Chief Minister who, as the leader of the State, likened himself with Ganguly saying that both have the same birthday (July 8) though separated by 58 years. ``It is nice to see that two generations of leadership is meeting at the same dais today,'' said Mr. Basu wishing that Ganguly ``brings more honours for the country.''Ganguly was flooded with gifts topped by a muslin `dhoti and kurta' presented by the Chief Minister.

Among the other prominent persons present in the function were the State Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharya, the Calcutta Sheriff and former cricketer Mr. Pankaj Roy, former selector Mr. Sambaran Banerjee and Calcutta Municipal Corporation Mayor Mr. Prasanta Chatterjee.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Raju leads from the front
Next     : West Indies downs Zimbabwe