Former India captain Ganguly hospitalised after chest pains

Indian cricket legend Sourav Ganguly was rushed to hospital Saturday after complaining of chest pains, the chief minister in his home state said.

The 48-year-old, who now heads the country’s cricket board, “suffered a mild cardiac arrest and has been admitted to hospital”, tweeted Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal.

Ganguly “suffered a blackout” while exercising at his personal gym in the morning and was immediately taken to Woodlands hospital in state capital Kolkata, according to a senior doctor there.

“A multi-disciplinary board of doctors is looking into his case to find out what caused the illness,” the doctor told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

“His condition is stable now.”

Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said he had spoken to Ganguly’s family, and he was “stable and is responding well to the treatment”.

In 2019, Ganguly was unanimously elected president of the BCCI, the sport’s most powerful body.

After a successful playing career during which he captained his country, Ganguly was instrumental in organising the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates last year.

The left-handed opener retired from Test cricket in 2008 having accumulated 7,212 runs including 16 centuries — his first made at Lord’s on his debut.

He also scored 11,363 runs in 311 one-day internationals.

Ganguly — popularly referred to as Dada, which means “elder brother” in Bengali — enjoys massive popularity in the cricket-crazy nation and the news of his hospitalisation was the top trending news on Twitter.

Ajinkya Rahane, who is currently the national side’s stand-in captain, tweeted: “Wishing you a speedy recovery Dada, @SGanguly99. Praying that you get well soon.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.