Best left-hander ever? Ganguly votes for Caribbean prince

Kolkata: CHAPPELLGATE REVISITED: ‘Greg was influenced by others in BCCI, selectors’
Months after he quit international cricket, and years after numerous debates that juxtaposed him against Brian Lara, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has come up with an interesting take — that Lara is the best left-hander that he’s come across.
Ganguly chose an otherwise low-key book release to make this revelation. “As a young cricketer, I looked up to David Gower. The Englishman was my favourite player initially. But from all the cricketers that I have seen and played against in the course of my career, I think Lara is the best left-hander ever,” he said.
Often revered as the best left-hander Indian Cricket has had over the last few decades, Ganguly has from time to time been compared to other southpaws in world cricket, particularly Lara. Only a year back, the former Indian skipper had opined that he found Lara’s captaincy quite impressive.
After showering praises on the Caribbean great, Ganguly stressed that his all-time favourites are Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. “They are my all-time favourites. It’s always good to watch them play.”
Ganguly, who was in a bubbly mood at the book launch, recalled a number of interesting instances from his illustrious career at the highest level. He picked out a particular shot for a six way back in 1999 as his most memorable stroke ever. It was a massive six off New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns in an ODI in Gwalior. Ganguly belted 153 runs and set up India’s win in that match. “I was in full flow, having scored a century. Cairns bowled a yorker to me and I hit it for a six. I initially felt that I had holed out but I could not believe my eyes when the ball soared over the ropes,” Ganguly recounted. “I was not able to repeat that shot again in my entire career. I consider that as my best ever stroke.”
In a tongue-in-cheek remark, Ganguly said that he was getting quite bored after retiring from international cricket. “It’s been two-and-a-half months now (since I retired). I think cricket life was much better,” Ganguly said.
And when the topic of the infamous spat with Greg Chappell came up, Ganguly didn’t mince any words, stating that the Aussie coach was influenced by people around him in the then BCCI administration, which led to the showdown between the two. Ganguly was dropped from the Indian team shortly after the controversy in 2005. “There were other persons in the Board and in the selection committee who influenced him. I don’t think Greg’s role in that episode was more than 15 percent. For those one-and-a-half months, I was upset. When you see wrong things happening against you, you get angrier than usual.”
It’s been some time now that he’s left the international circuit, choosing to carry on in the IPL and the odd domestic match for his state team Bengal. But Ganguly firmly believes that he is still good enough to play both forms of the game at the international level for at least another year. “200 percent,” the 36-year-old sternly said, when asked how fit he is to play international Cricket right now.
“I think I am still good enough for both forms of cricket. I played my best cricket in my last years. If I had played, I could have easily continued for at least one or one-and-a-half years more. But that’s not possible now. One has to accept the fact that retirement is part and parcel of a player’s life,” he said. “I have the IPL to look forward to. But turning out in the IPL could not be compared to playing for India,” he concluded.