Former India captain and current BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly, is confident there is a medical breakthrough in store past the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an unprecedented health crisis.
The deadly outbreak has triggered the suspension of all sporting activities, with cricket's all international and domestic fixtures put on hold by the organisers, who are bearing huge losses during this phase of lockdown.
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"This is something that has got the world in sheer shock. I think things will be back on track. We did not have the medicines to take care of it. But over a six-seven months' period once the vaccine comes up everything will be normal," Ganguly said during a live class on 'Unacademy' app.
"We have this tremendous resistance in ourselves. I think cricket will be back to normal. Yes, there will be some changes in the schedule but I think the BCCI and the ICC will be hell-bent to get cricket back to normal."
Once the vaccination is out, Ganguly says, things will automatically fall in place towards normalcy.
"Cricket will be very strong. There will be different tests, medical examinations for players, but I don't see it coming in the way of sport and it will go forward. As the vaccine comes out, it's going to be normal life I think. If you fall sick, whether you have fever, jaundice you pick those medicines and get better."
Ganguly, for whom "football was my life", "became an accidental cricketer" after multiple illnesses in Bengal's squad paved way for him to play an age-group match against Orisha in the late 80s and he scored a hundred.
"Five-six players got sick because of typhoid and an SOS came to our academy. I was fortunate to be one of them. I was nowhere but I got a hundred and then everything went off well. I became an accidental cricketer," he said.
"I had stopped playing for two-three months since then and then the CAB called for the trials. I had no kit. My brother played cricket and he was a left-hander. I had to adjust to a left-hander's kit, the gloves and all."
"I'm lucky that I played this game. I have seen this game evolve from the time I started."
Sourav replaced his own brother Snehashish to make his first-class debut in the 1989-90 Ranji Trophy season final.
In 1996, he made his Test debut for India at Lord's and scored a memorable ton.
"I had a debut hundred in Duleep Trophy, made a debut in Ranji final for Bengal but it was like a fairytale to get hundred at Lord's."
"It will remain with me forever. My mindset that day I feel was the best that I had ever. Maybe the destiny was with me to become a Test cricketer. I proved myself that I belong here," Ganguly added.
The 47-year-old went on to become one of India's most influential captains.
(Inputs from PTI)
