KKR coach picked, to be announced soon : Ganguly

September 24, 2009 08:47 PM

Former India Captain Sourav Ganguly has revealed that KKR management has picked its coach. He also said that the management will announce its decision shortly.

"The coach has been decided. But I cannot announce it. The team management (owners Shah Rukh Khan and Jay Mehta) will do it shortly,"—he said.

He also said that KKR will have three practice matches with the visiting Champions League Twenty20 teams in the first week of October.

Sources close to KKR management also reveal that they are about to announce their coach before these practice matches.

KKR management had meetings with several former players like Wasim Akram, former India coach John Wright, former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve, former Pakistan coach Richard Pybus, former England coach Duncan Fletcher and former Australian batsman Michael Bevan, former India and Kenya national coach Sandeep Patil, Mumbai Ranji coach Praveen Amre and former Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman.

Sources also revealed earlier that KKR management was looking for a foreign and Indian blend in their coaching department.

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Sourav is my Role Model : Irfan Pathan

SOURCE :ZEE NEWS

Mumbai: Being left from the Indian Champions Trophy squad has not hampered pacer Irfan Pathan’s hopes; instead he has vowed to make a successful comeback into the team, just the way Sourav Ganguly did when he was dealing with a similar kind of a fate!

The Vadodara lad is not sulking for being omitted from the recently concluded tri-nation series in Sri Lanka and the upcoming Champions Trophy. On the contrary, he said that he is taking inspiration from former Indian skipper and his role model Ganguly, who, like the phoenix, rose from the ashes to break his way into the national side.

“Sourav is my role model in terms making comebacks to the Indian team,” said Pathan.

“I am confident that I will return to the Indian team soon,” he added.

Pathan was sidelined in the above mentioned series, due to his poor run of form after the World Twenty20 in England. He is now working out regularly and trying to make himself completely fit for the upcoming domestic season.

“My aim should be to get back to the team and cement my place, not just in the Twenty20 or ODI side but also in the Test team,” Pathan said

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Ganguly gears up for new Ranji season

Date: September 12, 2009

Keen to play for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, Sourav Ganguly on Saturday padded up at Eden Gardens and batted for close to two hours in the morning.
Ganguly, who bid adieu to international cricket last year, practiced in the company of former Bengal players Gopal Bose and Goutam Shome Junior.

According to Goutam, Ganguly opted for a different batting style on Saturday.

"He changed his stance, opening up a bit to get a better view," he said.

Ganguly on Friday told state selectors Sambaran Banerjee and Devang Gandhi about his availability for the Ranji Trophy.

"Ganguly wants to play some of the matches. But the exact number of matches he will play, is yet to be finalised," Banerjee said.

Ganguly had on Wednesday expressed a desire to play a few matches for Bengal but had ruled out the possibility of a comeback to the national side.

The former Indian captain had earlier announced that he would play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers.

He is also set to play the third edition of the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders with a possibility of returning as captain.

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TRIPURA FELICITATES SOURAV GANGULY !!!

Source: Thai Indian Date: September 14, 2009

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. (ANI)

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Kapil hails Ganguly's decision to enter cricket admin

Date: September 15, 2009
Kolkata, Sep 15 (PTI) Hailing Sourav Ganguly's decision to enter cricket administration, Kapil Dev today said former players like him are best suited for the role, not the politicians.

Taking an indirect dig at the BCCI's mandarins who have political affinities, the World Cup winning captain said, "Politicians should do politics, like doctors in medicine and engineers in engineering."

"Ganguly is a great cricketer and I believe he would do justice to cricket administration. If great cricketers like him do not get into the cricket administration than who else should? Cricketers should take a cue from Ganguly and run the show for the betterment of the game," said Kapil.

Having retired from the international cricket last year, Ganguly had said he wanted to join cricket administration.

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Binny to seek Ganguly's advice for Bengal success

Date : 9/4/09
Newly-appointed Bengal coach Roger Binny has said he would seek the advice of former India captain Sourav Ganguly for ensuring success in the upcoming Ranji Trophy.
The 54-year-old former India medium-pacer, who replaced Utpal Chatterjee from the last season, had a drill session with the Bengal probables at Eden Gardens.

Binny said he already had a word with former coach Bharat Arun, under whose reign Bengal were relegated to the Plate League in the 2007-08 season. "I have already spoken to Bharat Arun and Mohinder Amarnath [last season's consultant] before coming here," Binny told PTI. "Next week, I plan to speak to [Sourav] Ganguly and seek his advice."

Binny said he has also picked up a few pointers after viewing the quarter-final match [against Tamil Nadu] that Bengal lost last season, after gaining promotion to the Super League. "I feel our batsmen played one-day like shots...They seemed to be in a hurry and played too many shots. I think that's one thing we can improve upon."

He also welcomed the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) players who are back in the domestic fold after availing the BCCI's amensty offer. "It's a positive move and we will have the experienced playes back in the side. But they will have to fight their way back."

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At 7, Sana Ganguly dazzles Kolkatans with debut Krishna act in mom’s play

Date: August 28, 2009

Kolkata A full auditorium, TV crew hovering around and photographers clicking away to glory is not something a seven-year-old takes easily, but former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly’s daughter seemed most comfortable in the hullabaloo around her. For a first-time performer, Sana Ganguly seemed completely unperturbed by flash-bulbs that glared at her every other second.

Playing young Krishna in her mother, renowned Odissi danseuse Dona Ganguly’s production, Sana betrayed no hesitation. She stood behind a prop tree, danced out and regaled the audience with her mother, who played Sudama. In fact, one could see her brusquely giving directions to her friends on stage while hiding behind the prop.

“Sana has not performed on stage before this but she is always around when I take classes in my dance school. So, she is very familiar with dance and performing,” says Dona.

The piece was originally conceived by Pt Kelucharan Mahapatra and Dona started learning it, right after Sana was born. “Since then, I always had Sana in mind as the small Krishna,” says the mother of the seven-year-old student of Loreto House.

The performance was a part of a dance drama festival organised by the Pschim Banga Rajya Sangeet Academy at Madhusudan Mancha.

“The piece is a beautiful one and that is why I decided that Sana should make her stage debut with this one. This is not to push her to dancing professionally. She will eventually make her own choice of career and pastimes. But it was always a dream to dance with her,” says Dona about her daughter who has been learning dance since last year.

“We have been on stage, faced the camera and people for a long time now. But it is an overwhelming feeling to see your child perform and get appreciated by the audience,” said Sourav, before leaving hastily, accompanied by security personnel.

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We want to be the next Deccan : Ganguly

Date : August 26, 2009

Kolkata: Busy rectifying mistakes that the Kolkata Knight Riders committed this year, Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday said his team, which ended bottom of the table in the second Indian Premier League, is gearing up for a complete turnaround in the third edition next year.

"Obviously we have looked at the mistakes that we committed and we are trying to rectify them. But I won't say in public what those mistakes were," Ganguly told PTI on the sidelines of the shooting of his show Dadagiri at the outskirts of the city.

"We want to do better then last time. Just like Deccan Chargers, who finished last in the first edition but won the trophy in IPL II. Similarly, take the case of Royal Challengers Bangalore, they were second-last in IPL I, but finished runners-up this year," he pointed out.

The former India skipper, who is widely tipped to return as KKR captain, sidestepped queries on the much-speculated appointment of a new coach for the team.

"I am not really worried about the coaches. What I am worried about is the team. I am spending a lot of time and trying to get the team right.

"Obviously I know the names of the coaches in contention but I don't have the authority to reveal them. It's Shah Rukh Khan and Jay Mehta who will take the decision but I have a say in that," Ganguly said.

Asked about speculations that Wasim Akram is the favourite to get the job, Ganguly only said that Shah Rukh did have a word with the former Pakistan captain on the matter.

"Yeah, I have good relations with Wasim Akram. He was a great bowler. Though I know him very well but it was SRK who had a chat with Wasim," he said.

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