Kolkata: Former Indian skipper and BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly has expressed his wish to meet 12-year-old Adrish Haldar from Bankura’s Kotulpur after he returns to India towards the end of this month. Adrish, a class VII student, had travelled around 115 km on Monday from Bankura to Behala Chowrasta to meet his cricketing idol on Ganguly’s birthday.
“I learnt about his little adventure.I am keen on meeting him,” said Ganguly, communicating through his personal assistant on Wednesday.
Ganguly’s office has also got in touch with the parents of Adrish on Wednesday, requesting his father to bring the boy to Kolkata, tentatively in the last week of this month.
“We have spoken to the family. There are numerous requests each day with people seeking audience with Dada. This being special, we want to respect the child’s wish,” said an official from Ganguly’s office.
The Diamond Harbour traffic guard yet again played a significant part in arranging the meeting. “We saw love for Ganguly in the child’s eyes and wanted to respect it. We clicked a clipping of the report that appeared in TOI and sent it to his office. His office reverted soon enough and stated they wanted to arrange a meeting with Ganguly and the child once the former cricketer returned home later this month,” stated a senior officer from the traffic guard.
After returning home, Adrish had lamented on the phone, “I couldn’t see Sourav. But the senior officer at Behala police station treated me well at night. He gave me rolls, biryani, and cake.”
Adrish’s father, Shibram Haldar said, “My son is a big fan of Sourav. Without informing us, he left home on Monday around noon. After searching for him extensively, we filed a missing person’s report at Kotulpur police station. I am grateful to the Behala police and the traffic guard for returning my son.”
The boy reportedly wanted to play cricket professionally. When his father asked him not to get too preoccupied with cricket, he grew desperate to meet Ganguly whom he “believes can convince his father and also arrange for him to play in Kolkata”.
On the day of Rath Yatra, he received pocket money to visit the Mela. The young boy saved that money and used the same to travel on Monday. He told his family that he was going to play.