Sourav Ganguly has played many roles during his esteemed career- 12th man, opener, captain, cricket administrator. But did you know that he once donned the disguise of Sikh.
Ganguly, during his time as the captain of the Indian cricket team, became a "sardaarji" to take part in the Durja Puja celebrations. Ganguly has talked about his adventure in his upcoming book "A Century is Not Enough", to be released by the end of this month.
Ganguly shared a preview of this book on the publisher Juggernaut's page.
Ganguly writes that Durga Puja is his favourite festival and he loves not only to be visit Puja pandal near his home but also play the dhak, distribute prasad to the public and even do a bit of dhunuchi dancing during evening arati. On the day bisharjon he always accompanied the deity on her final ride.
One year, during his captaincy days, he decided to go disguised as Sikh.
He writes, "I decided to go as one of Harbhajan’s tribe. Yes, disguised as a sardarji. Now I could have been mobbed big time. The situation could have gone out of control. But the thrill of accompanying the para boys and family members on the truck carrying the deity was just too irresistible."
Ganguly's wife, Dona arranged for a make-up artist to turn him from a hardcore Bengali into a convincing-looking Sikh. However the disguise was not so successful.
According to Ganguly, "My cousins all mocked me, saying I would be recognized. I gave as good as I got and took up the challenge. They turned out to be right. 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."
Ganguly took to twitter to announce the publication of his book and shared a link of the preview. He also posted a video sharing how exited he was about the book.
In the preview, Ganguly also talks about his decision to retire and what prompted him to make the call. He remembers his last test series and innings and how he was asked by then captain MS Dhoni to lead the team once again in the final moments of his career.
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