Former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s book ‘ A Century is Not Enough‘ has quickly become one of the most talked about book since its launch.
TheHindu.com caught up with Ganguly to talk about the experience of writing a book and on his journey in cricket so far.
Talking about his biggest motivation to write the book, Ganguly said, “Chiki (Sarkar, of Juggernaut Books) wanted me to do an autobiography but I was not keen on one right now. This is more of a handbook for young cricketers and professionals who want to do well at the top level; know what it means to be successful. That is why it is called A Century Is Not Enough.”
When asked what this book is about, Ganguly explained, “The book is not about tours per se... it’s about different situations — situations as the captain, playing the World Cup finals, making your debut in Tests, how you feel, and what it is about someone doing well at the top level, how you react when you get left out, what should be the mindset when there is pressure, because at this level, there is pressure on everyone at various stages, whether you are successful or not.”
Sourav Ganguly also talked about sharing his experience in his most unfavorable times of career.
He said, “I think that happens in every professional career when you do something for a long period of time. You have your ups and downs, you will have highs and that’s why you survive for a long time. It is all about how you feel when others feel you are not good enough. You just have to find a way to succeed, find a way to handle everything. The battle is never over if you believe you can keep moving. As much as you learn to handle failure, you must learn to handle success too, because that’s also important.”
He further said, “I want to see how they are doing, the better ones — what Virat Kohli is doing, what Shikhar Dhawan is doing — what the young boys are doing, because this is very special to all of us. And as I have said often before, this Indian team will always fancy its chances anywhere in the world.”
Talking about his term as President of Cricket Association of Bengal, Ganguly said, “I think the perspective is different. Obviously, playing in the middle was more fun because that’s what I did all my life. But administration plays a huge role in the success of anything. Administrators guide players and I have played for such a long time, I understand how it feels as a player. You can say I am a player’s administrator.”
He added, “Yes, they can. Players can be good administrators but it depends on how much time they put in. What you are ready to put in as an administrator is also important.”
Talking about the future of BCCI, Ganguly said, “We don’t know, to be honest, where it’s heading. It depends on the Supreme Court and what finally happens with it (the Lodha Committee reforms). We will just have to wait.”
