Chandigarh
BEING A sportsperson, Sourav Ganguly would be the best person to know how much hard work and toil goes into making the country proud by accomplishments at the international arena.
Having seen all the highs and lows of the cricketing world, the country’s greatest lefthander also has a fair idea of what goes into making of a champion irrespective of whether it’s from a cricket or one competing in the Olympics.

The southpaw shared with Hindustan Times his thoughts about Indian sports and the country’s performance in Beijing Olympics.

Abhinav’s golden triumph “Abhinav did a commendable job by winning the gold medal in the Olympics. He made every Indian feel honoured. To become an Olympic champion is a very big achievement and he has proved to the world that India is also capable of producing an Olympic champion,” Ganguly said.

When asked, did he consider India winning an Olympic gold before the start of the Games, he replied: “No, never. Rather Abhinav surprised everybody and made a point that from this system also we can get Olympic champions.” India winning three medals in the Beijing Olympic “On and off, I tried to follow India in Olympics and it was a nice experience watching India win three medals. Everybody who donned the Indian jersey in Beijing contributed in the country’s Olympic moment and one who clinched medals had a bigger share. Though I missed the medal winning bouts of Vijender and Sushil, they took their respective sports, boxing and wrestling, to greater heights,” he said.

Sports, other than cricket gaining popularity “After Olympics, shooting, wrestling and boxing are gaining popularity and it’s good for them. Popularity of any sport is directly related to performance. Earlier, hockey was popular because it was winning medals. And if now cricket is popular it’s because of results. The day cricket stop showing good results, it will no more be popular, so for any sports to grab the public imagination it has to perform well at international level. And you have yourself seen that people are now following boxing only after Vijender won bronze,” he said.

Claudius, greatest Indian sporting star Ganguly rates former Indian hockey Olympian Leslie Claudius’s achievements, as the biggest by any Indian sporting star.

“Leslie Claudius had won four Olympic medals (1948, 52, 56 and 60) and it’s really an extraordinary achievement,” he said. “He is from my city Kolkata and he has a big contribution in the country’s sporting history,” he added.

Claudius won three Olympic gold and silver in 1960 Olympics.

‘Want to see Bhutia leading country in Asia Cup 2011’ The entire country recognises Ganguly because of his association with cricket. But football is his first love. “I am happy that Indian football team did well and qualified for the 2011 Asia Cup. I will love to see Baichung Bhutia lead India in the Asia Cup, he said.

Confidence: Key to success for any sportsperson “Confidence plays a major part in any sportsperson’s life and because of this only one can make a big difference,” he said. “Abhinav thought big and won the Olympic gold medal. It was only possible because of the confidence and if you are confident, you can achieve any target and cross any hurdles,” he added.

Ganguly loves playing badminton and squash Though Ganguly needs no introduction as a cricketer and his passion for football is a known fact, he also like to try his hand in other sports. “I love to play badminton and squash,” he said.