Kolkata, July 25 (IANS): Former India captain K. Srikkanth on Saturday said the Eden Gardens here is the greatest stadium in the world to play cricket.

"Eden Gardens here is the best place to play cricket. I have fond memories of this ground and it is special coming back here. It is great to see such young cricketers being awarded," Srikkanth said at the annual awards ceremony of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

The former opening batsman, who was the chief guest for the event, said that he hopes the youngsters who received the awards would someday lead India just like local boy Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly was also present at the event.

"Ganguly has been one of the greatest captains India has produced. I hope some of them winning the awards would emulate Sourav and lead India sometime in the future," he said.

Many Bengal cricketers had to skip the awards ceremony owing to their going to Bengaluru where they are featuring in a Karnataka State Cricket Association pre-season invitational tournament.

Former cricketer Dilip Doshi was chosen for the 'Kartick Bose Lifetime Achievement Award', while Bengal's prolific run-getter Abhimanyu Easwaran was selected for the 'Pankaj Gupta Best Cricketer of the Year' award.

Both of them however were not present at the event.

The association also awarded Bengal cricketers across all age groups in both boys and girls categories.