Will these 4 days ease worries?

But for the attentions of one enthusiastic young boy, he could have walked through Mumbai airport unnoticed. From the time he arrived at the...

But for the attentions of one enthusiastic young boy, he could have walked through Mumbai airport unnoticed. From the time he arrived at the airport till the time he landed at Rajkot a couple of hours later, Sourav Ganguly was granted an anonymity rare to a cricketer of any stature, leave alone a recently deposed India captain.

There were no autograph hunters, nobody asked for a picture to be taken and even the overzealous Kolkata press kept a distance. When someone asked for an interview, Ganguly politely replied: ‘‘Please, not now. Let me go to Rajkot and

play and then possibly we can do this some other time.’’

Except for a few officials at the airport, who conducted the usual ritual of welcoming a star aboard, Ganguly was left alone.

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A huge change from the media scrum, the public attention and the heavy security that accompanied him at every public moment over the past five years.

Maybe, though, it is anonymity he seeks as he begins his journey back to stardom.

On board the flight, Ganguly appeared deep in thought as he sat alone in Business Class. When this reporter walked up to him, he preferred to chat about anything but cricket. There were casual questions and equally casual answers, nothing to do with his form and fitness.

All that he spoke on cricket was the fact that he was looking ahead to bat at Rajkot and score some runs. He is currently in the middle of the longest — and most public — dry spell of his career and the next few days are crucial if India’s most successful captain is to find a place in a team he led to overseas success a month ago.

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Normal service was resumed at Rajkot; the usual clutch of officials was there to whisk him away, no doubt to see the express pace wicket that has been prepared for him.

At any other time, you’d have bet on Ganguly quailing at the sight. Yet there was a steely determination in his visage today to suggest that he’s going to fight this out.