Disciplined Pune outplay uninspired Deccan

Pune Warriors 137 for 4 (Pandey 49, Ganguly 32*) beat Deccan Chargers 136 for 8 (Marsh 4-25, Yuvraj 2-17) by six wickets

	Yuvraj Singh led the Pune effort with the ball © AFP

Match Meter DC Dhawan and Teja off to a quick startShikhar Dhawan and DB Ravi Teja enjoy the medium-pacers, getting to 50 in six overs. PW Yuvraj and marsh strike back Yuvraj Singh gets a wicket in the seventh over, Mitchell Marsh in the eighth, and the score now is 56 for 2. PW Pune never release the choke hold Only six boundaries come in the rest of the innings as wickets keep falling and Deccan manage just 136. PW Ryder tucks into the chase Jesse Ryder smacks Dale Steyn for 14 in the first over, getting rid of the only man likely to derail the chase. Advantage Honours even

Deccan Chargers were handcuffed by Yuvraj Singh's round-arm left-arm spin, submitting to a middling total after a flashy start. They lost two wickets to Yuvraj at crucial junctures, and scored only 17 off his four overs. Mitchell Marsh and Rahul Sharma did their bit too, conceding 49 in their eight overs. Marsh was rewarded handsomely with three wickets in the 19th over with frustrated batsmen looking to force the pace. Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey made light work of the chase, although this game was inconsequential to qualification for further rounds.

With the way Shikhar Dhawan and DB Ravi Teja started the game, a facile win would have been the last thing on Pune Warriors' minds. They brought up the fifty in the sixth over, but Yuvraj dismissed Dhawan in his first over, and the squeeze that followed slowed Deccan down. Five fours and two sixes were hit in the first six overs, only six boundaries in the rest of the piece.

Dhawan and Teja were good against the medium pace of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shrikanth Wagh, and Dhawan welcomed Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell to the crease with sixes. When he tried to do the same to Yuvraj, who had brought himself on to stop the bleeding, the bowler pulled the length back, bowled a little slower, and Dhawan could only sky him to cover. Marsh followed it up with a played-on dismissal of Teja's. At 56 for 2 in the eighth over, Kumar Sangakkara and JP Duminy tried to make sure there were no more quick strikes.

However, Rahul beat Sangakkara's sweep with a flat, straight delivery. Yuvraj came back, and tortured Daniel Christian with deliveries that wouldn't spin. Finally Christian played around his front pad to be caught dead plumb. At 98 for 3 in the 15th over, the onus was on Duminy to take Deccan to a good total. However, as has been the case of late, Duminy couldn't make a telling contribution, managing a run-a-ball 30.

Dale Steyn, faced with the prospect of defending a pedestrian total, took matters in his own hands, and scored 10 off the last over, in the process scoring only the third boundary since the 15th over. Ryder, though, was quick to see off the only threat to their chase. He punched, drove and hooked Steyn for four, four and six in the first over. Between them, Ryder and Pandey scored 84 off 62, which basically finished off the chase. Before the end, though, the enthusiastic crowd finally got to see their beloved Sourav Ganguly bat in this IPL, who stayed there till the end, scoring a run-a-ball 32. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Ganguly will add value to Pune Warriors, say former players

Former cricketers feel Sourav Ganguly's vast experience will help Pune Warriors, who are struggling to stay afloat in the Indian Premier League, but caution that the former India and Kolkata Knight Riders captain won't have it easy living up to the hype.


In pic: Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly, who went unsold in the January auction for the fourth edition, has replaced injured fast bowler Ashish Nehra for the remaining IPL. He will play under the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh.

Warriors are languishing at the last position in the IPL with only two wins from their eight matches.

Bengal's Ranji Trophy winning captain and former national selector Sambaran Banerjee described it as a "great news."

"It's good to hear that he will be back in action. With his experience he will be asset."

"Now everyone will look forward with much interest to the Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors clash. And I think Kolkata fans will be divided between the two teams. A large chunk of people will root for the Pune side as Ganguly is still the darling of the people here."

Asked whether it would be possible for Ganguly to make a mark in the Twenty20 league now at his age and after being away from competitive cricket for a year, Banerjee said: "Nobody is expecting him to perform as he did in 1996 or 1999. His body cannot take that. But look even Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar are playing fine. If Ganguly can play at 60 percent of his ability, he will be an asset for Pune."

Former player Atul Wassan feels going by the lukewarm performances of veterans Rahul Dravid and V.V.S.Laxman, Ganguly will have to pull off something extra from his armour to turn things around for the Warriors.

"He has played a lot of cricket which will come handy. It remains to be seen how much can he perform with the bat. Players like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have been regularly playing Test cricket, have found it difficult to bat, though they continue to add value to Indian Premier League with their vast experience. Ganguly will also add value to the Pune team."

Former India player and commentator Arun Lal feels that Ganguly's presence will benefit the Warriors.

"IPL has been missing Sourav. Pune Warriors have been going through a rough patch and has won only two of the eight matches. Someone like Sourav can boost them, he is the right inclusion for them," he said. —IANS

Ready to play IPL if taken, says Sourav

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who remained unsold during the recent IPL auction, today said that he was ready to play in the IPL if selected.

Asked by a Bengali TV channel if he would agree to replace in IPL 4 any player in case of injury, the former Kolkata Knightriders captain replied in the affirmative. Asked in what form would he like to be seen in the World Cup, he said, "Of course not as a critic, but as an analyst." Ganguly said he would be a positive analyst of the game since he himself faced a lot of criticism.

The left-hander, who top-scored for KKR in the last edition of IPL with 493 runs in 14 matches with a strike rate of 117.66, was not picked up by any of the 10 IPL franchises including KKR. Ganguly was initially placed in the USD 200,000 price bracket, but increased his base price to USD 400,00 just before the auction. -PTI

Ganguly scotches retirement reports

Sourav Ganguly today scotched reports that he has decided to retire from all forms ofcompetitive cricket in the aftermath of IPL franchises shunning him for the fourth edition of the Twenty20 event.

I have already retired from international cricket in2008. If I don''t get to play IPL I will not be participating in any forms of domestic cricket. But if I do get an opportunity to play IPL I will play domestic cricket to stay fit," Ganguly said in a statement, seeking to put an end to the controversy.

He had also clarified his position as soon as he landed at the Kolkata airport.

"From where are you getting this conclusion. You should see the full interview," an irritated Ganguly told reporters.

"It''s only if I don''t get the opportunity to play in IPL.

If I play IPL, I will play other form of cricket," Ganguly explained.

Earlier, Ganguly''s interview to a television channel triggered speculation that the former India captain has retired from all forms of the game.

Asked specifically if he was retiring from all forms of cricket after being ignored by IPL teams, Ganguly said that he had retired from international cricket and there is no possibility of him playing in the IPL this season.

But his remarks were immediately interpreted as retirement from all forms of the game and television channels also got reactions from former cricketers on the development.

Asked specifically by the interviewer whether he has now retired from all forms of cricket, Ganguly said, "No, I don''t think so."

"I have retired as an international professional player two years ago. That part is done. IPL is a hugeplatform. As far as that is concerned I don''t think there is any possibility to play in IPL," he said.

Ganguly, who had retired from international cricket in2008, was not bought by the 10 IPL franchises in the January8-9 IPL auction and the Governing Council later shot down Kochi team''s desire to take him after other franchises objected to it.

Asked if he is not going to play in the Ranji Trophy infuture, he said, "I have not decided as yet."

The last Ranji Trophy match he played for Bengal was against Railways here in December last.

Ganguly said he was surprised at not finding a place in10 IPL teams in which 70 Indians were selected as he was scoring runs in the Twenty20 tournament.

"I had the runs. I scored more than 500 runs last year.

Players of my age such as Adam Gilchrist, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are still actively involved. Honestly, I don''t know why I was not picked.

"I haven''t been able to put the finger in the button why I was left out. Cricketing logic and past form suggests Ishould have been picked," he said.

KKR cricketing brains behind Ganguly ouster: Shah Rukh

Kolkata Knight Riders' co-owner Shah Rukh Khan today said leaving out former India captain Sourav Ganguly from the team was a decision taken by the "cricketing brains" of the franchise and not by him. Ganguly, who captained KKR in the inaugural and 2009 season, was completely ignored in two rounds of players' auction for the fourth edition starting April 8.


In pic: KKR former captain Sourav Ganguly

The snub to the flamboyant batsman triggered angry protests in Kolkata. Khan pleaded with the fans to understand the compulsions behind the decision. "It's with very heavy heart that such decisions are taken. I don't do cricketing decisions anymore because in the first year when I did it, I have not done very well," Khan said. "I feel very sad for my team, for the city that my team represents. I feel very sad for the state. I feel very bad for my children. So all the decisions are now taken by the cricketing brains. The main aim is to perform well since in the last three years we have performed badly and I am sure that Dada also wishes that we do well," he added.

Khan said the team, which has bought Gautam Gambhir for mind boggling Rs 11 crore, cannot be about one individual. "Dada is like my younger brother. The team does not consist of one or two people. It is a team of 20. We used to feel very bad about our loss. We have even cried when we didn't win in India as well as in South Africa. "We only want to win the championship for Kolkata. We all want to do that including Dada. We have to put sadness, issues and thoughts behind sometimes to achieve a goal. We all have to make some sacrifices we understand that," he told 'Times Now'.

Khan said the controversies should now end and KKR should be allowed to function smoothly. "In season one, we had a lot of controversies and in the third IPL season, we had so many problems so my message to everyone is to give me a chance to run KKR without controversies. Let me play the game with the spirit of the game," he said. -PTI, Courtesy - TIMES NOW

You don't have a team in Kolkata without Ganguly: SRK

DURBAN: Kolkata Knight Riders' owner and Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan today said he would try and find a role for Sourav Ganguly in his IPL team after the former India skipper remained unsold.


In pic: KKR former captain Sourav Ganguly (L) and KKR owner Shahrukh Khan

Ganguly, who led KKR in the last edition, was left red-faced as none of the 10 franchisees showed interest in buying him at the two-day auction in Bangalore. "I would love it, I would love Sourav to be an integral part. You don't have a team in Kolkata without him. So, I will speak to Dada when I get back," Shah Rukh said.

The fans of Ganguly yesterday burnt Khan's effigies in Kolkata protesting his exclusion from the team. Shah Rukh refused to speak on why other teams ignored the former India captain. "I don't think I should be commenting on the nine other people. There are 350 to 400 players. There are 10 teams with think-tanks varying in hundred of numbers, the permutations and combinations. I don't think any of us can comment really on who should pick who? I don't think we have the right to do that,"he said.

"Auction is actually a chance like. It is very difficult to be completely confirmed on what you do in the auction. So things go wrong, kind of money you have, which players come first, so lots of decisions have to be made," he added. -PTI

'Black Sunday' marks the end of Ganguly's IPL innings

In pic: Saurav Ganguly

KOLKATA: If it was darkness at noon for Sourav Ganguly and his fans on Saturday, it turned out to be a 'Black Sunday' for them as they waited endlessly, hoping against hope that one of the 10 franchises would pick up the former India captain on the rebound at the IPL auction in Bangalore.

It was not to be. And as the two-day jamboree ended at 6pm sharp, the writing on the wall was clear: Sourav would not be playing in IPL. There was complete disbelief when his name was announced by the auctioneer on Saturday and there was no response from the franchise owners.

On Sunday, disbelief gave way to indignation as none of the franchises pencilled him out to be re-auctioned even though 28 players from the unsold list were given a second chance.

UP captain Mohammad , one of Sourav's proteges, in fact, was given a third chance and finally found a buyer in Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sourav's teammate in Kolkata Knight Riders, Murali Kartik, who too had gone unsold the first time around, hit pay dirt when he was re-presented at the auction with Pune Warriors buying him for $400,000 — exactly double his base price.

It was almost as if the 10 franchises had come to the auction with a mindset that the likes of Sourav, Chris Gayle, Mark Boucher and Brian Lara were not to be touched.

The franchises' reluctance to buy West Indies and English players was understandable because of the uncertainty over their availability for the entire duration of IPL-4, that starts on April 8 and concludes on May 20.

However, it was baffling why teams like Pune, Kochi and Deccan Chargers — who had plenty of money in their kitty — refused to go for Sourav even though they didn't have enough Indian batsmen on their rosters.

It was a humiliation of sorts for a man who the BCCI had anointed as an icon player when the IPL was conceived. For the record, of the 48 capped Indian players who went on auction, only three, including Sourav, remained unsold.

The other two — Wasim Jaffer and VRV Singh — could not find a buyer even though, unlike Sourav, they were put up for re-auction.

The KKR management, having splurged on the opening day of the auction, operated on a low key on Sunday. They spent half-a-million dollars on Laxmipathy Balaji and a quarter-a-million on Jaydev Unadkat to bolster their pace attack even as Bengal boy Ashok Dinda was snatched away by Delhi Daredevils.

KKR also made a couple of low-key purchases in Dutch all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate and under-20 Australian fast bowler James Pattinson, but still failed to address the balance of the side. Having bought seven foreign players and only five Indians, they now have no option but to recruit heavily from CAB first division club Kalighat, which has served as a supply chain for them over the past three IPL seasons.

There is talk of Sourav taking up a mentoring role with one of the IPL sides, but the man himself remained tight-lipped about his future plans. -TOI

Ganguly wants to play for Mumbai Indians

Sources close to former India captain Sourav Ganguly have revealed that the stylish left-hander has expressed the desire to play for Mumbai Indians in the coming Indian Premier League season.

Ganguly is hoping MI buy him during the auction to be held over the weekend in Bangalore. "Sourav is very disappointed that KKR decided not to retain him. He had never thought that they would let him go. Now, he wants to play in his close friend, Sachin Tendulkar's team.

"Also, he wants to play this IPL with an absolutely free mind, without any responsibilities of captaincy," sources close to Ganguly told MiD DAY.

Meanwhile, KKR's take on Ganguly is not very clear. But it seems highly unlikely that they will make a bid for their former captain, especially after he increased his base price for the auction, moving into the top bracket of players. On the other hand, our sources revealed that, KKR is positive about capturing Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. They will also push hard for Gautam Gambhir.

Will Ganguly re-unite with former India teammate Tendulkar? Will MI make Dada's wish come true? Over to the auction now. -MiD DAY

Ganguly's decision to play for Bengal gives jitters to TN

Chennai: (PTI) Former India captain Sourav Ganguly's decision to assist Bengal midway in the season in Ranji Trophy against Tamil Nadu in their fifth of seven league matches in Elite-A group has given jitters to Tamil Nadu bowlers, who have not performed to their potential so far. The four-day fifth round of league match between Bengal and Tamil Nadu starts at IIT Chemplast grounds here tomorrow.

Bengal are now in fifth position on the table with eight points from four matches. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu are in joint second spot with 10 points, along with Gujarat, behind the leaders Mumbai with 14 points. Bengal coach and former India player Woorkeri Raman has found it tough to field totally fit 11 players in earlier matches this season and Ganguly's return should help the side perform in order to push themselves up the points table. "We managed with a squad of 12 players, but I must say the boys have measured up well under the circumstances.

In this context, Ganguly's presence will definitely make an impact and hopefully, we will be able to do well," Raman said. "Against Assam, we didn't have (Ashok) Dinda who was not fit. His replacement Shami Ahmed contacted viral fever and was off the field for two hours. We had our chances, but didn't take them. Our game against Tamil Nadu is crucial for us," Raman, who was Tamil Nadu's coach for four years before shifting back to Bengal this season, added. Bengal, who are eyeing an outright win to make sure of progressing further in the tournament, might face lot of hurdles in realising it as Tamil Nadu's top and middle order batsmen have been in good nick.

Opener Abhinav Mukund (double century plus), K B Arun Karthik (century plus) and Badrinath have cracked centuries against Delhi and Saurashtra and also have decent scores in the other two matches. Despite having Ganguly, capable of performing well with both bat and ball, Bengal will miss the services of wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who is with the Indian team for the ODI series against New Zealand. "Saha's replacement Sreevats Goswami for our match against Tamil Nadu has also gone home due to viral fever. So it has been a bit of struggle for us this season. But there is not much you can about it," Raman said. Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, would also be going into the match without two of their key players -- off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and opener Murali Vijay, both of whom are away on National duty against the Kiwis. However, the main worry of the hosts would be their bowling that has not clicked so far and any hope of beating Bengal depends on Lakshmipathi Balaji upsetting Bengal with some early strikes and young left-arm spinner, Aushik Srinivas finding his rhythm.