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Sourav Ganguly to retire from international cricket after India-Australia series

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has announced he will retire from international cricket after India's upcoming four-Test series against Australia.

Ganguly was a surprise inclusion for the first two Tests having been overlooked for the five-day domestic Irani Cup tie last month, regarded by many as a trial match for the series.

But wanting to end his international career on a high, Ganguly told reporters after a training session ahead of Thursday's first Test in Bangalore.

He said: "This will be my last series. "Before coming here, I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock."

Indian Cricket's Chairman of selectors K Srikkanth said Ganguly "wanted to play with a free mind and now he can".

Current skipper Anil Kumble, however, denied reports that the Indian Cricket Board had proposed a series of retirement plans for senior players - including Ganguly's.

"Age does not matter at all as long as a player is doing well, otherwise I would have retired long ago. All the the talk is in the media," he said.

Ganguly, 36, was India's most successful Test captain with 21 wins in 49 matches before he was sacked in 2005 following a public spat with then coach Greg Chappell.

The left-hander, who made his Test debut in 1996, has scored 6,888 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 41.74 with 15 centuries.

Ganguly finished his one-day career with 11,363 runs in 311 matches, one of only seven batsmen to reach the 10,000-run mark in limited-overs cricket.

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End of the road for a great entertainer. He'll be missed. The time is right for him to move on with other young'uns coming through the ranks.

dhobi_bhai

Walikum Assalam.

I think this presents as a big challenge for the selectors. Would they continue to pick him for the second test and so on if he doesn't deliver? Would he play all four tests despite his good/bad performances? The time that he has declared for stepping down - after the fourth test - is kind of double-edged sword. Not select him and face public/media backlash. Select him and you have one less fielder/plus his performance in the team, whatever it may be. I think he could have bowed out at a time which would not have put extra pressure on everyone.

Decent 6Chora

Looks like the same rout that Inzi took. I am sure Gangu negotiated the retirement with BCCI. Just like Inzi did with PCB and as DB said, now it will be VERY hard for selector to drop him in this series. It will need a big heart and ear to do that.

Dada will be remembered as a good entertainer. He along with Dravid and Sachin entertained us for quite some time.

So guys, first "brick" of the wall is out now.....and as they say, this is all it takes to bring the wall down!

a1kashur

Great cricketer. He'll surely be missed. Reminder for Tendulkar. Bow out gracefully.

cadet018

So the beginning of end has started ..