Sourav Ganguly was the captain of the Indian team when they toured Pakistan for a historic series in 2004, which involved both a Test and ODI series. This marked India's first visit to the country for any cricketing assignment since 1997 and the first red-ball tour since 1989.

With the sensitive political relations between the two countries, the Indian team lived under high security in Pakistan and strict rules. However, Ganguly revealed that in order to taste the food of Lahore's famous food street with his friends, he breached security without informing anyone apart from the team manager.

"Well past midnight I discovered that my friends were making plans to visit the iconic Food Street for kebabs and tandoori dishes. The area is known as Gawalmandi. I didn't inform our security officer as I knew he would have stopped me. I had only told our team manager Ratnakar Shetty. I slipped through the backdoor with a cap which covered half my face I knew it was breaking the rules, but I felt I had to get away from the rifles and tanks," wrote Ganguly in his autobiography 'A Century Is Not Enough,' which he published in 2018.

Ganguly revealed that a fan managed to recognise him as well as an Indian journalist. The Indian cricket team further revealed he got a call from Pakistan's then-president Parvez Musharraf, who gave him a polite but firm warning to avoid such acts.

"Arey aap Sourav Ganguly ho na?” someone asked excitedly. I said no in a slightly modulated voice. He shook his head and said, ‘I thought as much. Par aap bilkul Sourav jaise dikhte ho.. We were about to finish our dinner when someone finally called my bluff. A few yards from where we sat was journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. The moment Rajdeep spotted me, he started shouting, Sourav, Sourav. I knew I was in trouble. People started coming in from all directions and I got gheraoed-…While I tried to pay the bill and escape, the shopkeeper refused to accept payment. He kept on saying, ‘Bahut achcha. We need someone as aggressive as you to lead Pakistan," Ganguly recalled

"While we were making our way back to the hotel a speeding motorbike chased our car. The biker was asking me to roll down the window. My co-passengers kept telling me not to as they feared he might have a bomb. I, however, did not see any threat and obliged. He stretched out his hand and echoed the shopkeeper in Food Street, ‘I am a big fan of yours. Pakistan needs a leader like you.’ The series loss had hurt the average supporter big time.

""President Musharraf was polite but firm. He said, ‘Next time you want to go out please inform the security and we will have an entourage with you. But please don’t indulge in adventures,'' Ganguly added.

The Indian cricket legend is celebrating his 53rd birthday today. He continued leading India in all formats till 2005 and played for the country till 2008 before his retirement. He remained an active player in IPL and domestic cricket till 2012. Since his retirement, Ganguly has taken up coaching, administrative, and media roles.

Talking about the series in question, India won an ODI and Test series in Pakistan for the first time in history on Pakistan soil under Ganguly. Ganguly missed the first two Test matches which included India's maiden Test victory in Pakistan in Multan due to injury.