I regret taking my shirt off at Lords, says Sourav Ganguly
Photo credits: India Times
What's the story?
Former Indian cricket team captain, Sourav Ganguly, in his autobiography titled "A century is not enough" opened up about his cricketing career and gave us an insight into his life over the years.
Speaking to Barkha Dutt about his iconic shirt-waving moment in the balcony of Lords after India's historic win against England in the 2002 Natwest Series, Ganguly revealed that he regrets doing what he did.
"Everybody says that its the most iconic moment. But I wouldn't do it again. I came from a very conservative and shy Bengali family. It just happened in the heat of the moment. I think the perception people had when I played the sport was different.
They took the perception on the field on the field as it was, but, off the field I was a completely different person. I had to put on this attitude of mine because I wanted everyone winning cricket matches," he said to Barkha Dutt, in a preview of her interview with him for the Week Live.
In case you didn't know...
Sourav Ganguly was the centre of one of India's most iconic moments in cricket history when they miraculously defeated England in the final of the Natwest Series back in 2002.
As Zaheer Khan hit the winning runs in the final, Ganguly was spotted removing his shirt and waving it around in the Lords balcony.
The Details:
Ganguly himself had once admitted that his act was in response to Andrew Flintoff, who had done the same thing after England won the final ODI of a six-match series which was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai a few months prior to the Natwest Series.
"I regret it because there are better ways of showing your happiness of beating England at Lords. I'm not that type of person who would take their shirt off and get agitated. I'm normally very docile, but that cricket field turned me differently," said Ganguly about why he regretted removing his shirt.
Author's take:
It does come as a surprise to us all when Ganguly says that he is a shy and docile person, as we all watched him in a different persona on the field.
However, despite him regretting the shirt-waving moment, it will go down as one of the most iconic and popular moments in Indian cricket history, and something which everyone would remember him by.