Do you know why Sourav Ganguly removed his shirt at Lord's balcony in 2002?

Bengaluru, July 27: The shirt-swirling celebration of Sourav Ganguly at the Lord's balcony after India won the Natwest Series in 2002 has become a part of Indian cricketing folklore. But do you know why Ganguly did that? And do you know VVS Laxman tried to stop Gangusly from removing the shirt?

While speaking at the Breakfast with Champions, Ganguly revealed a few little known stories about his celebrations.

Laxman tried to stop Ganguly

"I was standing on the right side. VVS Laxman was on my left and Harbhajan Singh was behind my back. So, as I was removing my T-shirt, VVS tried to tell me, 'Don't do it, don't do it!' After I removed my shirt, Bhajji asked, 'What do I do now?' And I said, 'Tu bhi khol de!'," Ganguly said.

Why did he remove his shirt

"The idea came to my mind just at the moment. I remembered how Andrew Flintoff took off his shirt at Wankhede to celebrate a 3-3 series draw before, and I just thought why not do the same at Lord's," Ganguly said.

I'm embarrassed now

"But I am also embarrassed about the incident. My daughter once asked, 'Why did you do that? Is it necessary to do that in cricket?' And I had to tell her that 'No, I did it once by mistake'. Somethings things happen in life in which you do not have any control," said Ganguly.

The red square in Moscow from my hotel room pic.twitter.com/pg5joQgLPB

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 15, 2018

Spotting MS Dhoni

"MS Dhoni came in 2004. He batted at No 7. We went to Vizag against Pakistan. In the meeting, I was thinking how to make him a player. Because I recognised he was really strong. I told him, 'MS, go and bat at No. 3.' And he asked, 'And you?' And I told him, 'I will bat at No. 4, you go above me'." He went ahead and scored 170 runs in that match.

"I feel happy seeing MS. Because there are not too many cricketers from the East. And two captains of India have emerged from that part of the country - I played 450 matches, Dhoni played 500. So, I feel happy seeing him today,"

Lauding Virat Kohli

"When Virat Kohli plays, I feel you have to see him bat, irrespective of where you are. When you see him, it looks like he wants his players to form the best team. He is focusing on fitness, he has brought yo-yo test. People can criticise but there is a reason for this. The sports has become fitness-oriented.

"I have a lot of expectations from Virat. I hope he can win the Test series against England. The country has faith in him," said Ganguly.