New Delhi: Back in the team after his spat with coach Greg Chappell, Sourav Ganguly says ``lots of things'' had happened but ``time heals everything.''

The former captain also says that being dropped from the Indian team for about a year had changed his outlook towards the game and he realised that life's lot more than just cricket.

``It's been good (relationship with Chappell). As I said, lots of things happened but time heals everything. I have come back to the team and am performing, helping the team to win. And that's what a coach requires from a player and that's what a cricket team needs,'' he says.

Key to his comeback

The former captain said he could make a successful comeback only because he had the ability to perform at the highest level.

``My comeback is because I still had the ability to perform at this level. I don't think it's because I was dropped,'' the elegant left-hander said in an interview in the latest issue of Cricinfo magazine.

Recalling the days when he was not in the Indian team, Ganguly said ``my father is obsessed with the game, obsessed with me playing for India. Luckily my wife is not a great follower of the game, but she was sad that I was not playing for the country.''

Happy for his dad

``But it probably hurt my dad more than anybody else, and I am happy for him that I am playing well. I hope I can play as well as I am doing now. I know it's not going to continue forever, there will be hiccups at some stage. And it is how quickly I bounce back from that and start performing again,'' Ganguly added.

Ganguly also disclosed that he had set himself a deadline till the World Cup to make a comeback to the Indian team.

``I would have tried for a certain period of time — till probably the World Cup. If after that it did not happen probably I would have taken other decisions. But at that stage I was trying very hard because I knew I had to perform every time,'' he said.

Asked whether he seriously thought of quitting at any stage, he said, ``No. I knew the selection committee would change in September.

``There were a lot of things involved. These things were not in my control. I had just given myself a deadline that I would try till this period of time, and just kept going,'' he said.

Minor changes

Ganguly said he had made certain changes to his batting style after he was dropped from the team.

``I have changed my technique, bit with my stance, bit with my initial movement. I use a slightly lighter bat compared to my earlier days, I have worked on it but nothing major,'' he said.

On why he did not quit the game when he was asked to prove his form and fitness in domestic cricket, the Bengal batsman said, ``There are two ways of looking at it. You can quit and go. But I looked at it as `I have seen the best, achieved quite a few things for India, let's see if I am good enough to go through this.''' — PTI

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