Ganguly to shine against his former team today

The former Indian captain and batting rock-star, Sourav Ganguly, aka “Dada”, is confident to thrive against his former team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in today’s game at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.

Ganguly, who is representing Pune Warriors in this tournament, is hopeful of displaying a marvellous batting performance against a team he captained during the first three Indian Premier League (IPL) Seasons.

Having been knocked out of the IPL-4 race, Pune is set to play its last game against KKR, who hold 4^thposition on the points table, and are expected to qualify for the play-offs by winning one of its two remaining matches in the first round.

Ganguly did not get a contract from KKR in the IPL auction for this season and the franchise chose Gautam Gambhir instead. “Dada” was much depressed at this dishonour. He said a month ago, “There are several reasons I could have been dropped, but not for cricket”.

IPL newcomers, Pune Warriors, hired Ganguly in the midst of the ongoing tournament as the Yuvraj-led needed a substitute.

Despite the fact that today’s game makes no difference for Pune, Ganguly desires to hit hard against his home team.

Pune coach, Geoff Marsh, says, “He is very excited to do well against his former team. He is looking forward to the challenge. He has still got a huge passion for the sport, wants to compete”.

Pune Warriors are expecting huge crowds for what will essentially be Ganguly against his former team.

Pune players want to prevent KKR from qualifying for the play-offs by inflicting a defeat on them in today’s game. Marsh said, “It is unfortunate that we cannot get to the play-offs, but we can stop teams from getting there. We have a lot to play for”.

For fans, its matters a little which team wins and which loses as they are just keen to watch Dada perform.

Ganguly has rendered many valuable services for Indian cricket. His career is packed with glaring successes. He captained Team India for five years. His popularity is only second to Sachin Tendulkar in India.