SOURAV GANGULY ‘ABSOLUTELY FINE’, DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL

KOLKATA: BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly returned home on Thursday after spending five days in hospital, where he underwent an angioplasty to clear a blocked coronary artery.

The 48-year-old cricket icon has been declared stable and clinically fit by doctors, but he will have to undergo another angioplasty, likely after two weeks. “I am absolutely fine... hopefully I will be able to fly soon,” Ganguly said before boarding his private vehicle.

“We say we come to hospital to get life back. It really has been so. I thank all the doctors, the nurses and everybody for my treatment,” he added. Accompanied by wife Dona, the former cricketer was escorted by police as hundreds of fans waited patiently outside the hospital as well as his residence.

The BCCI chief, who was diagnosed with three blocked coronary arteries after which a stent was inserted in one to remove the blockage, needs to undergo “another angioplasty for which he has to return to the hospital after two weeks or a time when he feels comfortable,” a senior doctor of Woodlands Hospital said. “Doctors will monitor his health condition at home and take appropriate measures from time to time,” he said.

Noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty, who had joined the team of doctors attending to the former skipper, had said on Tuesday that Ganguly is an “asset” to the nation, and the “mild heart attack” that he experienced did not cause any damage to his health. “He can run a marathon, fly a plane or even resume cricket. This event will not have any impact on Ganguly’s life span and he will be leading a normal life,” he said.