ALL ABOUT CRICKET

Sourav Ganguly has said he will retire after the upcoming Test series against Australia. "Just one last thing lads, before I leave, I just want to say that this is going to be my last series," Ganguly said after taking the last question of his press conference. "I've decided to quit. I told my team-mates before coming here. These four Test matches are going to be my last and hopefully we'll go on a winning note." He said "To be honest I didn't expect to be picked for this series," Ganguly said. "But once I was chosen, I started preparing. Even when I was left out of the Rest of India squad, which was a bit of a surprise for me, I was still training with the Bengal boys.Over the last few days, he found it difficult to sleep, wondering again and again, why he was invariably the first player to be targeted. Memories of the bitter past resurfaced, and the man who led India to their most Test wins and had made one of the most memorable comebacks in the history of the game.
Ganguly also dismissed speculation over a "voluntary retirement scheme" for the senior members of India's squad. "I don't think it's ever possible that anybody can offer you a VRS. You cannot do that to players like [Anil] Kumble, [Rahul] Dravid, [VVS] Laxman, me, Sachin [Tendulkar] or anyone. Ganguly, 36, has scored 6888 runs in 109 Tests, with 15 hundreds. He played 49 Tests as captain, the most by an Indian. n 311 ODIs, he scored 11,363 runs at 41.02. He captained India in 147 ODIs. His last ODI was against Pakistan in Gwalior on November 15, 2007. He is one of only three players to complete the treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODIs, other two are Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. Since his recall in December 2006 and till the end of the home series against South Africa earlier this year, Ganguly scored 1571 runs at 50.67, including a maiden double-century.

Pakistan's pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar said "It is a sad day for Indian cricket that he has decided to retire. But he has taken a brave decision and he will go as one of the 'icons' of Indian cricket."
Despite his poor run against the Lankans, he never expected to be on the chopping block again in the Tests. He was not the lone batting failure in Sri Lanka, and when he heard he would likely not be selected for the Australia series, he was extremely upset.