Ganguly shares his haunted experience (Source: @Thyview/x.com)
Every moment in cricket is unmissable, but sometimes the on-field action takes a backseat as off-field stories steal the spotlight. Ghosts exist or not is the biggest debate still now but sometimes cricket faces those uncanny moments.
Several times, cricketers opened up about the paranormal experiences that they faced in life and Sourav Ganguly is no exception. He revealed a terrifying ordeal at Lumley Castle during India’s 2022 England tour that left him shaken.
Lumley Castle’s beauty hides a terrifying secret for Ganguly
England’s classic, vintage charm has always lured visitors, and cricketers are no different. In 2002, the Indian side travelled to England for the NatWest series under Sourav Ganguly’s leadership. At Durham, Ganguly encountered something so eerie that it was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
During that match, Team India was staying at the Lumley Castle at the Chestler-le-Street. The Indian captain never even imagined the stay will come out as a forever horrible memory for him. In the book named ‘Beefy’s Cricket Tales’ by Ian Botham, Ganguly talks about the scary moment in his hotel room.
“We were up in Durham for a match at Chestler-le-Street and were being looked after at Lumley Castle, a beautiful hotel that overlooks the ground. As a captain, I was taken up to my suite and I must say it was a magnificent room with everything you could want,” he said.
“We finished training for the day, with the match due to be played the following morning, and I went back to my room before heading out for dinner. When I returned, I closed the curtains and switched off all the lights and climbed into bed,” he added.
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Strange movements in the dark force Ganguly to flee out of the room
Until this, everything was normal as Ganguly set his eyes on the next match. But once he fell asleep, eerie noises and strange movements from his bathroom shattered the calm. He heard the sound of water running from the tap but when he went there, everything was normal.
“I got up, switched on the lights and went to turn off the water. The taps were already off. I thought I must have dreamt it or heard it from another room. I went back to bed, making sure everything was turned off and the place was quiet, then fell back asleep,” he said.
Ignoring it at first only made things worse, as the repeated disturbances left him deeply unsettled. He tried to resolve the issue multiple times but it crossed the limit when it took place for the third time, as he sensed danger.
Then he got out of his bed and ran to teammate Robin Singh’s room and spent the entire night in his room. That bone-chilling experience left such a deep scar that he never stayed at Lumley Castle again.
