Pervez Musharraf Once Told Sourav Ganguly Not To Indulge In Midnight 'Adventures' While In Pakistan

A phone call from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf left Sourav Ganguly ¡°mortified¡± during the historic 2004 tour across the border. "Facing Wasim Akram¡¯s deadly in-cutter was less scary!" writes the former India captain in his forthcoming autobiography, 'A Century Is Not Enough'.

The backstory of the unlikely call is fascinating. During the tour, the Indian cricket team was lodged in Lahore¡¯s swish Pearl Continental Hotel. Security was at its tightest, almost suffocating. Having wrenched out a thrilling 3-2 victory in the ODI series over the arch rivals, the Indian captain wanted to just escape from the ¡°fortress¡±.

"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," says Ganguly in the book co-written with journalist Gautam Bhattacharya.

"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,¡± he writes.

¡®President Musharraf was polite, but firm¡¯

To avoid getting recognised, the Indian captain had devised a ploy. "Arey aap Sourav Ganguly ho na?¡± someone asked excitedly. I said no in a slightly modulated voice. He shook his head and said, ¡®I thought as much. Par aap bilkul Sourav jaise dikhte ho.¡¯¡±

The Kolkata cricketer, who scored 7,212 Test runs (16 centuries) and smashed 11,363 runs (22 tons) in ODIs, goes on to say, "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.¡±

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Soon chaos erupted. "People started coming in from all directions and I got gheraoed-¡­While I tried to pay the bill and escape, the shopkeeper refused to accept payment. He kept on saying, ¡®Bahut achcha. We need someone as aggressive as you to lead Pakistan¡¯.¡±

There was more adventure in store. "While we were making our way back to the hotel a speeding motorbike chased our car. The biker was asking me to roll down the window. My co-passengers kept telling me not to as they feared he might have a bomb. I, however, did not see any threat and obliged. He stretched out his hand and echoed the shopkeeper in Food Street, ¡®I am a big fan of yours. Pakistan needs a leader like you.¡¯ The series loss had hurt the average supporter big time.¡±

Ganguly arrived at the hotel safely. But the news had reached Musharraf. That¡¯s why he made the phone call. Writes Ganguly, "President Musharraf was polite but firm. He said, ¡®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¡¯.¡±