Exhaustion never forced me out of Test series:Ganguly

Indirectly taking a dig at India Twenty20 and one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni skipping the upcoming Sri Lanka series citing exhaustion, former captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said during his captaincy days he could not have `afforded` pulling out of a Test series.

I don`t remember missing out on a Test or a series when I was the captain. Perhaps I could not afford that. For captain Dhoni, who is also the wicketkeeper and the batsman of the team, I think he must have felt fatigued," Ganguly said.

"It also depends on your position in the side; I`m sure not many players, with a place in the side not guaranteed, will be able to do that. It depends how much threat for the place you have in the team. I know only one player who has been able to do it successfully --- Sachin Tendulkar."

Ganguly was quick to add that it was the Ranchi wicketkeeper-batsman`s personal decision.

Asked whether the Indian Premier League extravaganza was to be blamed for the player fatigue, Ganguly said, "I don`t think it opens up the IPL vs country debate."

Disappointed that he was not among the 30 best one-day cricketers of the country as announced while picking the Champions Trophy probables, Ganguly said it was high time that he stopped looking forward to the 50-over version.

"I was not part of the side for seven months, and, having been ignored for the Champions Trophy probables, for the next three months also I won`t be part of one-day cricket. So obviously I don`t look forward to that. You may call it I was pushed out or was asked to go out ... what I look forward to is to do well in the Sri Lanka tour," Ganguly said.

The 36-year-old left hander, however, said he was not mulling on retirement from one-day cricket. On India`s final match jinx, especially after losing back-to-back finals, first in Bangladesh tri-series and then in the Asia Cup, Ganguly said, "It will be difficult for me to comment on the side."

"I`m not part of the side for many days and I don`t know about the new team. However, it will be harsh to judge them so early. Give them some time before we make a judgement."

Asked whether Twenty20 had robbed one-day of some lustre, Ganguly said, "I don`t think there is any lack of interest in ODIs after the advent of Twenty20."

"While I was in England, I went to watch an ODI at a venue there and I saw a packed house. I`m sure when the ODI format returns to India, we`ll see the same packed house as it was earlier. All the three formats will have the same public interest."