Ads by Smowtion

Chitika

Ganguly Hits Out On Shoaib's Comments, Again!

MUMBAI: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Saturday made light of former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar's claim in his autobiography that Sachin Tendulkar was uncomfortable against his pace in the Faisalabad Test in 2006.

"I don't think even my daughter will believe that Sachin was scared of fast bowlers. You don't get 100 centuries, he is almost there (99 international centuries), and play for 20 years being scared of fast bowlers. You have good form and bad form, but that does not signify you cannot play fast bowlers," Ganguly told reporters at a promotional event.

He said the controversy surrounding Shoaib's autobiography " Controversially Yours" has not come as a surprise as it has happened before with ex-cricketers penning their books with misleading anecdotes.

"I have experienced all this before. It is not just Shoaib Akhtar or Shahid Afridi. There were also Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. You find all these things appearing in a book. That is why I have not written a book yet," Ganguly quipped.

Hayden in his book 'Standing My Ground' had said that Ganguly and Harbhajan chickened out after having a look at the grassy Nagpur strip during Australia's tour of 2004.

While in his book 'Being Freddie, my story so far', Flintoff had portrayed Ganguly as lazy and selfish and behaved like royalty. Ganguly and Flintoff had played together for English county team Lancashire.

Ganguly said he was surprised and disappointed at the way these books were written.

"Write about good things. Write about India-Pakistan series in 2004. Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi were part of the team. It was such a fantastic tour," he added.

India had won both Tests and one-day matches for the first time on Pakistan soil, during the bi-lateral series.

In a lighter vein, Ganguly said, "They have stopped selling Shoaib's book here. I would need to go to Pakistan or ask you (journalists) to get me one when you go to cover a series there."

Showing interest about the contents of the book, he said, "You really want to know Shoaib as a person because, as someone in the opposition team, he came across as an interesting character. I am sure his autobiography will be running fast and there will be lot of quick deliveries".

He urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to move on with the game ignoring the ongoing controversy regarding match fixing scandal and Akthar's book.

"It is time for Pakistan cricket to get a bit of balance. There is too much of unnecessary things that is happening in that country regarding their cricket. Let us get on with the game and get on with the sport because there is so much talent in their country," Ganguly said.

"You look at the players who have come over the years. The likes of Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Javed Miandad, Yousuf Youhana (now Mohammad Yousuf). It is just amazing talent. Pakistan cricket needs to use their energy in positive way," he added.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You may also Like