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Indian cricket board (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly was discharged from Kolkata's Woodlands Hospital on Thursday, after he was admitted with complaints of chest pain and discomfort on Jan 2.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed that blockages in his coronary arteries were found, for which he underwent "stenting of the right coronary artery", and that the former India captain is "doing well".
The 48-year-old will be on oral medication and "monitored by doctors and nurses on a daily basis at home and will be ready for the next course of procedures or medical interventions after about two to three weeks".
Doctors said Ganguly is stable and was saved because of the promptness with which he went to the hospital.
People close to him believe stress could have caused the heart condition, reported the Indian Express.
"I know Sourav never smoked or drank. He took his fitness very seriously and trained as often as he could. But he might have been feeling stressed," said former Bengal captain and national selector Sambaran Banerjee, who has known Ganguly since he was eight years old.
"He told me once he would never join politics and I do not think he is someone who should, but it is possible that he would be feeling pressure from all the recent reports doing the rounds linking him with politics. That might have been a trigger for the attack."
Sambaran said when he rushed to the Woodlands Hospital to see Ganguly on Jan 2, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was already there. She asked him: "How is it that a sportsman can have a heart attack? How is it that someone as fit as Sourav had a heart attack? It doesn't fit."
Sambaran said there have been numerous incidents of sportsmen, in great health, suffering heart attacks, like former Australian batsman Dean Jones, who died in Mumbai on Sept 20 last year while in the city for a commentary stint.
"I was with Dean Jones when he suffered a heart attack," said Sambaran. "We were part of the same commentary panel. We stayed in the same hotel, we had breakfast together, he used to like to talk to me.
"Nobody could have guessed he would suffer a heart attack. He was supremely fit, went out for morning runs every day, used to eat sparingly."
Veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Ashok Bhattacharya caused a flutter by saying Ganguly was under pressure to join politics.
Elections are due in West Bengal in four months and rumours have been doing the rounds that Ganguly may take the political plunge, although he has not made his intentions clear.
"Some people want to use Ganguly politically," said Mr Bhattacharya.
"That probably exerted pressure on him. He is not a political element. He should be known as Sourav the sporting icon.
"We should not create pressure on him (to join politics). I told Sourav last week he should not join politics and he did not oppose my views."
Like Bhattacharya, several politicians visited Ganguly at the hospital.
While Indian Prime Narendra Modi called him on the phone to inquire about his health, the likes of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Uttar Prdadesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and several of Ms Mamata's Cabinet colleagues made a beeline to the hospital.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy also said there is immense pressure on Ganguly to join politics amid reports that the BJP and the ruling Mamata-led TMC in West Bengal are trying to woo him.
Ganguly's possible plunge into politics has been a major topic of discussion since BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur reportedly played a major role in his appointment as BCCI president.
Along with Ganguly, Mr Shah's son Jay Shah was appointed the board's secretary and Mr Thakur's brother Arun Dhummal the treasurer.
According to India Today, there is severe pressure on Ganguly to commit but he has been evasive. When asked if his post as BCCI chief had come as part of a deal, Ganguly cryptically said that one should respect Mr Shah's comments and tweets on this.
Shah said earlier that "if Dada (Ganguly) joins it's good, but there has been no such deal or talks with him. We didn't try to recruit him".
But the buzz about Ganguly entering politics picked up after his wife Dona, a noted dancer, participated in a BJP-organised cultural event in Bengal in October.
On Dec 27, Ganguly also had an hour-long meeting with Mr Dhankar.
A day later, he attended the unveiling of former Indian finance minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley's statue at the Firoze Shah Kotla ground in Delhi with Mr Shah.
BJP West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh said his party is not putting pressure on Ganguly. "Some people see politics in everything due to their sick mindset," Mr Ghosh said. "Like millions of his fans, we only wish that Sourav recovers fully."
Senior TMC leader and West Bengal Power Minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee said there has been no effort to induct Ganguly "into our party".
"We are proud to have him as the icon of sports," the minister said.
Indo-Asian News Service
