Tripura felicitates Sourav Ganguly

Agartala, Sep.14 (ANI): Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly was felicitated by the Tripura Cricket Association here on Sunday.

This was Ganguly’s third visit to state after 15 years.

Ganguly after visiting the MBB Cricket Stadium said that there has been rapid infrastructure development of cricket in the state and with it in the coming days the state can go for conducting national and international matches.

The former Indian captain also met budding cricketers and coaches and gave them useful tips, which were welcomed.

During his visit, Ganguly accepted an offer of being the technical adviser for development of cricket in Tripura.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also felicitated Ganguly, who will leave the state on Monday. By Pinaki Das(ANI)

KKR hunt for new coach: Akram meets SRK in Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 30(ANI): Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders’ hunt for a new coach continues as former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram met team co-owner Shahrukh Khan at his residence in Mumbai on Sunday.

Akram is one of the leading contenders for the job, while earlier in the day, former India coach Sandip Patil had met Shahrukh.

It is also believed that former India coach John Wright will also take part in franchise’s final round of interviews, and will make a presentation to Shahrukh.

Lalchand Rajput, Ashok Malhotra, Richard Pybus and Michael Bevan have already met the owner.

Akram is known to be close to prospect Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly and it is said that a good rapport between the two may seal the deal for Akram. (ANI)

Sneha Ganguly | Sneha Ganguly Swine Flu | Sourav Ganguly’s niece Sneha Ganguly tested positive for swine flu

Sneha Ganguly | Sneha Ganguly Swine Flu | Sourav Ganguly’s niece Sneha Ganguly tested positive for swine flu

Kolkata, Former Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly’s niece tested positive for swine flu and was admitted to the isolation ward of M.R. Bangur Hospital here on Monday, a health official said.”

Sneha’s healthcondition is said to be stable and she is undermedical supervision.

Sourav Ganguly – Sourav Ganguly’s Birthday – Fans celebrate Sourav Ganguly’s birthday

Sourav Ganguly – Sourav Ganguly’s Birthday – Fans celebrate Sourav Ganguly’s birthday

KOLKATA: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly’s 37th birthday was celebrated with much enthusiasm as fans and school children sliced a cake lit with 37 candles near his residence in Behala.

With big placards, banners and balloons adorning the wall, Ganguly fans and school children sang choruses and wished him well in his life ahead.

“I am a big fan of Ganguly. It’s sad that he has retired from the game but he has left an impression among us,” a student of National Academy school said, while distributing cakes.

The organiser of the event, Ratan Haldar said he had been celebrating Ganguly’s birthday ever since the former India captain was ousted from Team India under coach Greg Chappell in 2004.

“We are doing this for the last five years. When he had the spat with Chappell, I brought together his fans and had organised various events to support Ganguly,” Haldar said.

“Now that he is retired, we wish him to do something for sport, especially for much neglected football. We want him to come into administration and work for the betterment of sport in India,” he added.

Haldar and other residents of Behala plan to present Ganguly with a bouquet when he arrives from Mumbai in the evening.

Ganguly in the morning attended BCCI’s techincal committee meeting in the western metropolis.

Another Ganguly fan present on the occasion, Bijay Banerjee, said Ganguly was still good in cricket.

“He would have played for India again. He is still good… look at his contemporary Rahul Dravid, who has been named in the ICC Champions Trophy probables,” said Banerjee, a businessman.

“I wish him luck, happiness and success in what he does. As he has forayed into commentary, I wish he becomes the all time great commentator.”

Source -

http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Fans-celebrate-Gangulys-birthday/articleshow/4753824.cms

McCullum will do a good job as KKR skipper: Ganguly

Cape Town (South Africa), Apr.18 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders’ Sourav Ganguly has said that New Zealander Brendon McCullum will do a good job as captain in the first match.

Speaking to Times Now in an interview, Ganguly said he had no clue about why controversies followed him.

“I do not know how it happens. I think god has given me good things. I played for India for so long and also captained India for a long time. So god’s been kind,” Ganguly said.

On KKR owner Shahrukh Khan saying he is the ‘best captain in the world’, Ganguly said: ” I thank him for the compliment and hopefully we do well for the Knight Riders. I’ sure McCullum is going to do a good job. He’s young and he is a dynamic player. He is a good Twenty20 player so hopefully we will all do well.”
e also said that the team would try and do well in the second edition of the IPL.

“The team is in good shape. We had a training session in Bloomfontaine for about 10 days. I’ve been a part of the camp for nearly a month now starting from Kolkata. We have worked hard for it and now it is time to really do it,” he said. (ANI)

Ganguly fans stage protest in Kolkata

Kolkata, Apr 17 (ANI): Sourav Ganguly’s fans are outraged over their favourite cricketer’s replacement as a captain of Kolkata Knight Riders’ team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament with New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

Ganguly was the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2008 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On Friday, Ganguly’s fans burnt posters of Bollywood star and Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner Shahrukh Khan here. They blamed him of being the culprit behind Ganguly’s replacement as a captain.

Ganguly’s fans said they would not accept anyone else in his place, as he was far better team leader than McCullum to lead the Knight Riders.

“The team won’t strengthen until Ganguly is made the captain. McCullum should be removed and Ganguly should be brought back to captaincy,” Rahul Mishra, a protestor demanded.

Fans also burnt the effigies of KKR coach John Buchanan, who had first proposed multiple captaincies system last month. Ganguly, however, had accepted the decision of multiple captaincies, as he would be able to focus more on his batting and bowling skills.

The IPL is scheduled to be held between April 18 and May 24.The matches will be played at eight venues around South Africa, with the final to be held in Johannesburg.

Sourav Ganguly is widely described as ‘Prince of Kolkata’. (ANI)

Shah Rukh Khan hits back at Gavaskar for criticizing Buchanan

Mumbai, Apr 5 (ANI): Bollywood actor and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday slammed former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar for criticizing John Buchanan.

Buchanan, who is the manager of Kolkata Knight Riders, had suggested the four captain theory for the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I have great respect for Gavaskar. I have grown up enjoying his performance. I respect him too much. I would like to say that please give the multiple-captain theory a breathing space to try now. If we fail we can always go back to the traditional way,” Khan said at a media conference here.

Gavaskar had recently criticised Buchanan’s theory saying too much importance is being accorded to the Australian, who is a failed first-class cricketer and is only trying to get lucrative jobs for his Queensland pals.

Shah Rukh also expressed hope that his team would perform much better than last year.

“All our players like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Sourav Ganguly, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Ishant Sharma, Mashrafe Mortaza are available,” he added. (ANI)

Vijay Mallya hails BCCI’s gesture

Mumbai, Apr 3 (ANI): Vijay Mallya, owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers thanked the Indian Premier League (IPL) management and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for agreeing to contribute towards the extra expenses incurred in travelling to South Africa.

“I am very glad as a franchise owner that we are playing here. 95 per cent of the IPL is watched on the television. I think the television viewership will not suffer because we have kept the time at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the same time. As far as the cost element is concerned, it will cost us more to go to South Africa and play. But, the BCCI and the IPL organisation have assured us that we will be adequately compensated,” said Mallya while addressing a press conference here on Thursday.

It may be recalled that the IPL decided to stage the second edition of IPL Twenty20 cricket matches in South Africa instead of India as the dates of certain ties clashed with general elections. The government expressed its inability to provide security to the players and also at the venues of the matches.

Consequently, the franchised owners of the teams had become a worried lot and sought drawbacks from the BCCI and the IPL to make up the cost of travelling to South Africa.

The BCCI has agreed to compensate the IPL franchisees the money spent on air travel to South Africa and also any extra expenditure incurred towards accommodation of their teams.

Whereas the commercial success of the first edition saw the IPL contribute close to rupees one billion to the exchequer last year, the BCCI doesn’t expect much profits this year due to huge supplementary costs in staging the matches abroad.

Meanwhile, in Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly said that he was satisfied with the choice of Bloemfontein as the base camp for the team in South Africa.

“The population is much less. It is an open city. I have been to Bloemfontein many number of times. The facilities are very good. They say the best cricket wicket in South Africa is Bloemfontein. Adrian Le Roux comes from Bloemfontein. So he had a major say in this decision (of South Africa hosting the second edition of IPL),” said Ganguly.

The IPL tournament will start on April 10 and continue till May 24 in which 59 matches will be played at various venues in South Africa. (ANI)

Ganguly’s return as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders celebrated by fans

Kolkata/New Delhi, Apr 2 (ANI); Fans of Sourav Ganguly celebrated his appointment as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), one of the teams in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, to be staged in South Africa.

Fans, carrying posters of Ganguly and KKR owner Shahrukh Khan, took to the streets, dancing and celebrating with colours.

Commending Khan’s decision to retain Ganguly as the KKR captain, the fans said that coach John Buchanan’s idea of “multiple” captains for the team was not practical.

“Buchanan said that there should be four captains in KKR, but we wanted Ganguly to remain as the captain. We requested Khan for Ganguly’s captainship because in one team four captains should not be there. We will always be there for Ganguly,” said Ratan Haldar, one of the fans.

As the countdown to the second IPL begins, middle order batsman Robin Uthappa, who played for Mumbai Indians in the first edition last year, has returned to play for home team Bangalore Royal Challengers.

“One has to understand that the IPL is a fantastic platform for all youngsters and fringe players to make a comeback in the side. Even for someone like Yusuf Pathan, it was a fantastic platform for him that brought him into the side. So, if people like me are trying to make a comeback, it’s going to be a superb platform for me,” said Uthappa.

The IPL will start from April 10 and will continue till May 24 in South Africa. The tournament will feature 59 matches. (ANI)

Ganguly’s fans protest against captaincy rotation

Kolkata, Mar 27 (ANI): Fans of Sourav Ganguly, who led Kolkata Knight Riders’ in the 2008 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), burnt the effigy of coach John Buchanan against his decision to rotate captains during the Twenty20 league.

Ganguly’s fans said they would not accept anyone else in his place.There will be only one captain in Knight Riders and he is Sourav Ganguly. He is the only successful captain in India. In any team where we have Ganguly, we need not have four or five captains. If there are four or five captains, we will also have five coaches,” said Bablu Haldar, one of the fans.

With at least three successful captains in its list, Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to go for a rotation of skippers.

The decision came after the coach analysed the strength of the teams, which boasts of international players like Chris Gayle (West Indies), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) who have led their sides in the past to victory.

This would eventually ease pressure on Ganguly.

Ganguly on Wednesday said he accepted the decision, as he would be able to focus more on his batting and bowling skills.

Earlier, organisers of the Twenty20 tournament announced the eight-team league would be staged in South Africa from April 18 due to security reasons and would return to India next season.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to stage the event overseas after failing to get government clearance for security cover as the tournament’s dates clash with the general elections. (ANI)

Sourav says he was not consulted on captaincy issue

Kolkata, March 25 (ANI): Sourav Ganguly today said that he was not consulted on the captaincy issue and that he came to know about it from the press, hours after being dropped as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

“I was not consulted on the captaincy issue before the final decision was made. I learnt about it from the press,” Sourav told a news channel.

Ganguly also added that a team could be expected to do well only if it has a set squad and that cricket was all about giving players confidence and security.

Knight Riders coach John Buchanan had earlier in the day announced in a press conference that the Shah Rukh Khan owned Kolkata outfit will not have any ‘fixed’ captain for the second season. (ANI)

Ganguly to share Kolkata Knight Riders’ captainship

New Delhi, Mar 25 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders’ cricket manager John Buchanan announced in a press conference on Wednesday that former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly would not be acting as a ‘fixed’ captain for the Shah Rukh Khan owned franchisee in the second season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Ganguly and I have talked about it yesterday and decided that there need not necessarily be a fixed captain,” he said. “The team will have four captains.”

Buchanan denied any rift in the team and claimed that the dismissal of Ganguly as a fixed captain had no relation with his performance or fitness.

The team will have a separate batting captain and a fielding captain.

Elaborating the new blueprint, Buchanan said, “I really think in the course of this 20-over tournament we have the capacity to have the team coach, Matthew Mott, running the batting side of things. If we have to change the batting order or change personnel to fit a certain situation, then that is something that could fall under his control.”

“Once on the field, we have some very good leaders there in Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Sourav Ganguly. The laws of the game state that you need a captain for certain formal roles, such as the coin toss, but that aside, I see there is scope to challenge the way teams have been run in the past,” he added.

Ganguly too accepted the decision saying, “I am not upset…My goal is to score runs and take wickets”

“This is a unique concept… John has the right to implement his own methods,” he added. (ANI)