Sourav hopeful of comeback

Jun 14, 2006, 17:08 GMT

Kolkata, June 14 (IANS) Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Wednesday said he was taking his forthcoming engagement with English county Northamptonshire with all seriousness so that he could stage a comeback to the national squad.

'I am going to England not only to enjoy, but to perform,' Sourav told reporters here on the eve of his departure for England Thursday.

'Cricket is my life. I want to be with the game always,' said the beleaguered cricketer who would return from England Aug 5.

Sourav, who Wednesday scored a smart 76 in 66 balls in the P.C. Sen Trophy (a local tournament) final here, is replacing gritty Australian lefthander Chris Rogers - called up to play for Australia 'A' - in Northamptonshire.

He is not new to county cricket since he earlier played for Lancashire and Glamorgan. He will mostly play the Twenty20 Tournament.

The left-handed batsman, who has scored over 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, signed the contract after knowing that he was not selected for the Indian Test Squad for the West Indies.

Sourav, whose lucky charm, a gold chain bearing a locket of family deity goddess Chandi, was stolen Friday and later recovered by police, is hoping for luck in his county stint even as selectors and many senior cricketers have almost written him off in international cricket.

© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service