Sourav Ganguly recalls the time when he received a call from Musharraf

Indian stalwart, Sourav Ganguly, in his autobiography ‘A Century Is Not Enough,’ made several exciting revelations regarding his journey as an Indian cricketer.

One of them was about receiving a phone call from President Pervez Musharraf post his little jailbreak from the team hotel without prior intimation to security.

Ganguly claimed that the phone call from then Pakistan president was even more frightening than Wasim Akram’s deadly in cutters. The incident occurred after India’s historic series win at Lahore against Pakistan.

Indian team was posted at Lahore’s swish Pearl Continental Hotel with asphyxiating security. That was when the Indian captain made plans for Lahore delicacies in the middle of the night by intimating their team manager.

“Well past midnight, I discovered that my friends were making plans to visit the iconic Food Street for kebabs and tandoori dishes. The area is known as Gawalmandi,” wrote Sourav in his book.

Musharraf firmly requested Ganguly to not indulge in adventures

“I didn’t inform our security officer as I knew he would have stopped me. I had only told our team manager Ratnakar Shetty. I slipped through the backdoor with a cap which covered half my face… I knew it was breaking the rules, but I felt I had to get away from the rifles and tanks,” continued Ganguly.

The plot almost worked for Dada until someone recognized him. “Areyaap Sourav Ganguly ho na?” enquired a local. To which Sourav replied with a modulated voice and denied his claims. “I thought as much. Par aap bilkul Sourav jaise dikhte ho,” further augmented the Lahore local.

“We were about to finish our dinner when someone finally called my bluff. A few yards from where we sat was journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. The moment Rajdeep spotted me, he started shouting, Sourav, Sourav. I knew I was in trouble,” penned down Dada.

This created quite a chaos in the restaurant as the crowd surrounded Sourav Ganguly. Now CAB President managed to pay the bill and returned to his hotel. What awaited the Prince of Kolkata was the dreaded phone call from none other than President Musharraf.

Pakistan President politely requested the then Indian captain by saying,”Next time you want to go out please inform the security and we will have an entourage with you. But please don’t indulge in adventures.”