Rly sports stadium will help sports persons, says Ganguly

Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly today batted for Railway minister Mamata Banerjee`s ambitious

indoor stadium project in the city and said the facility would help sports persons represent the country. "I am personally very excited about the project," the ace cricketer said addresing the gathering at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the stadium to be named after film maestro Satyajit Ray at Behala here. "I have seen the ground from very close quarters for the last 10 years as this place is very near to my home. When I was playing international cricket, it used to be an open ground and I would practice here ... I am very happy as the stadium will have indoor as well as outdoor facilities," Ganguly said. The Satyajit Ray Railway Indoor Stadium will have an athletic track to cater to outdoor sports as well. Thanking Railways for promoting sport, the southpaw said "I hope Kolkata sports persons from various fields benefit from the stadium and get to represent India in future. For sports persons, job security is very important and the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) is ensuring that." Sprint queen P T Usha, football greats Sailen Manna, Samar (Badru) Banerjee, Syed Nayeemuddin were among those present at the programme. It was also attended by former cricketer Sambaran Banerjee, swimmer Rashmi Sharma, India women`s cricket captain Jhulan Goswami, Olympian archer Dola Banerjee and athletes Sushmita Singha Roy and Soma Biswas. Bureau Report