"There is no point playing like this. I am not willing to play at their (selectors') mercy. They will pick you now and then dump you. Why should I be the sacrificial goat all the time? It was difficult to accept," Ganguly, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday, said.
"If a gun is held at your head, how far can you bear it. That too after playing 450 matches. I played badly in only one series. But others are not dropped. I have scored the highest number of runs after comeback," he was quoted as saying by Bengali daily Aaj Kaal.
"How long would I have played? May be upto 2009. May be seven more Tests. For that I was not prepared to take any more humiliation," he added.
Ganguly said being dropped from the Irani Trophy Rest of India squad by the selection panel led by Vengsarkar was the last nail in the coffin and he thought he had faced enough humiliation by then.
"I never thought I will be out of the Irani team. I couldn't sleep for one month in anger, agony. Had this committee (new selection committee) come three years ago, things might have been different," said the 36-year-old left hander.
When reminded of Sunil Gavaskar's comments that he and VVS Laxman are always put under pressure, Ganguly was at his sarcastic best.
"Everything happens in Indian cricket. When Greg Chappell dropped me, he chose T P Singh to replace me. Where is he now?" Ganguly asked.
"Some have not scored any runs in the last three series, some have not scored any run during the last one year. Some have changed their hair style more number of times than the number of runs they have scored. I was dropped despite scoring the highest number of runs following my comeback."
Dropping from the Irani Trophy hurt Ganguly so much that he considered it more painful than being sacked from the team after a spat with then coach Chappell.
"Exclusion from the Irani team hurt more. Then I thought, it is the end," he said when asked which of the two was more painful.
With all the trials and tribulations in his eventful but illustrious 16-year-long international cricketer, Ganguly is a satisfied man.
"I have played 109 Tests, over 300 ODIs. I am the fourth highest run getter in the country, the total runs in Tests and ODIs being 18,251. Ninth in the world. I took the team to World Cup final. Defeated Australia in Australia. Won the series in Pakistan, altogether 21 Test wins. But, you don't get everything you want," he said.
The Bengal stalwart said he carefully mulled over his retirement decision and thought it was the right time to go.
"I have thought over it a lot. I took the decision after considering everything. I thought it was the best time to go. I wanted to end the matter before the Australia series started. All speculation was telling on me. The selectors said something and did something else."
Asked if he was sad over the fact that he would not play again for India, Ganguly said, "I am also a human being. Cricket is a passion. Anybody will feel sad. But it is not as tough as I thought it will be. Now I feel a huge load has been removed."
On playing in the swangsong series, the left-hander said he would want to end his career on a high by helping the team win the series against Australia.
"I aim at the team winning the series. It will be great if I end up on the winning side. I am concentrating on the four Tests," he said.