Sourav Ganguly, BCCI chief and former India cricket captain, undergoes angioplasty after suffering a mild heart attack

Sourav Ganguly, former India cricket captain and now president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. A file picture.

Former captain of the Indian cricket team and current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly was hospitalised on January 2 after suffering a mild heart attack. He had to undergo angiography and angioplasty on one artery. He was stable after the operation. A medical board of five doctors has been set up to treat Sourav. “He came in good time. There was critical blockage in one artery, on which we have performed angioplasty. He is better now. There are blockages in two other arteries, our team will take a decision on what to do…. Now the priority is not the other two arteries, but that he settles down from the heart attack. Once he settles down we will take a further decision,” said one of the doctors treating him.

The 48-year-old former cricket star had a blackout while working out in the gym in the morning of January 2, and was rushed to a private nursing home in Kolkata. He was suffering from acute pain in his arm and back. According to a statement by the hospital authorities, “He [Sourav Ganguly] had family history of IHD ØE Ischemic heart disease. When he came to the hospital at 1 pm, his pulse was 70/min, BP 130/80 mm of Hg and other clinical parameters were within normal limits. His ECG showed hyper acute ST segment elevation in inferior leads and lateral leads. Echo showed mild inferior wall hypokynaesia with preserved overall left ventricular function.”

Sourav is known to be a fitness freak and his sudden illness has come as a shock to the cricket-crazy nation. Politicians also took to social media to voice their concern and rushed to the nursing home to visit the cricket star. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on social media: “Sad to hear that @SGanguly99 suffered a mild cardiac arrest and has been admitted to hospital. Wishing him a speedy and full recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family!”

Kailash Vijayvargiya, national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, posted on Twitter that he had spoken to the doctors treating Sourav and was assured that there was nothing to worry about. Mamata Banerjee visited Sourav at the nursing home, as did State Cabinet Ministers Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also visited Sourav. “After seeing Dada [as Sourav is affectionately referred to] smiling, I have no more worries. I was concerned before I entered his room, but the moment I walked in I found him in his usual cheerful mood,” said Dhankhar.