Ganguly embarks on Northants tour to get his career on rails

Kolkata, Jun 16 (UNI) Former India captain Sourav Ganguly today left the city for a short-term stint at Northamptonshire that commmences on Monday and which could well be his ticket for his return to the national side.

Ganguly, who lost the captaincy last year and has since been left out of the side, was being brought in as cover for Chris Rogers, who will be on Australia 'A' duty between June 17 and July 26.

He is scheduled to be unveiled as a Northants player on Monday, and expected to make his first appearance in a C&G Trophy one-day match against Nottinghamshire on June 25.

He will play against Pakistan when they visit the English county at the end of next month.

'' I am going to England not only to enjoy, but to perform, '' Ganguly told reporters here recently.

Ganguly said he would be back on August 5. '' Cricket is my life. I want to be with cricket all along, '' he said, when asked about the reason for his decision to play county cricket.

The former India captain cracked an aggressive 76 in the final of a local cricket torunament to signal his return to form ahead of the sojourn to England.

Ganguly, who had scored 5221 runs in 88 Tests and more than 10 000 runs in ODIs, will get his chance to remind the Indian selectors of his class during his stint in the English county. The 33-year-old had previously played for Lancashire (2000) and Glamorgan (2005).

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