Sourav caught in Behala mob fury :

KOLKATA: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was caught in an ugly mob violence at Behala Chowrasta on Saturday when locals agitating against the death of a youth in an accident chose to vent their ire on his car.

Sourav's bodyguard Bivash Biswas, who stepped out to protest, was brutally assaulted and had to be taken to hospital. It was only when Sourav stepped out of the car that the agitators realized their mistake and fled. Sourav's driver gave chase and managed to catch one of them, who was later handed over to the police. Besides Sourav, his wife Dona and daughter Sana were in the car. None of them was hurt. Sourav himself drove home the BMW, which wasn't heavily damaged.

Trouble started around 10.30pm when a youth was knocked down by a trailer and died on the spot. Furious locals blocked roads. Sourav and his family, who were returning home after dinner around the same time, were caught in the commotion. Blinded by rage, the agitators started attacking any vehicle they could lay their hands on, including Sourav's BMW, unaware perhaps that the man they affectionately call ‘Dada' was inside it.The blockade was cleared after an hour.

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Murali tougher to face than Warne - Sourav

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said he would rate Murali a tougher spinner to face than his long-time competitor Australian Shane Warne.
"I don't want to get into comparison but I would prefer Warne. Murali is more accurate and has more variations so tougher to face," Ganguly told reporters here.

Ganguly termed Muralitharan's Test retirement after his final five-day game against India at Galle as end of an era.

"(Shane) Warne, (Anil) Kumble had already retired and now (Muttiah) Muralitharan... It is an end of an era," the 38-year-old said.

"His (Murali's )record will be very hard to beat, he has been a great chapter in Sri Lankan cricket, having reigned supreme for more than 15 years. He is hard to be compared with anybody," he added.

Ganguly felt like other great cricketers of the past, Muralitharan chose to retire when he was at the peak of his career.

"All great players leave when they are at peak. It's really a nice way to bid goodbye to Test cricket after taking 800 wickets in Tests. (Sunil) Gavaskar, Shane (Warne), Glenn (McGrath) all called it quits in prime of their respective career. I am sure when Sachin Tendulkar decides to leave, he too will go on a high," said Ganguly

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Ganguly to attend CAB AGM

Kolkata: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly will attend the Annual General Meeting of the Cricket Association of Bengal through Mohammedan Sporting, while there will be some political colour this time around with union minister and TMC leader Mukul Roy set to represent Grear Club.

The iconic Bengal cricketer, who had represented Bhukailash Sporting Club in the CAB working committee last time, however will not be part of the working committee.

"But he will represent Mohammedan Sporting -- a club headed by Union minister of state for Tourism Sultan Ahmed --in the AGM," said a CAB official on the last date of filing nomination on Tuesday.

"Mukul Roy will represent Grear Club at the AGM. So far 118 out of 121 affiliated units have filed their nominations. Aryan Club, Tapan Memorial and Siliguri Mahakaran Kridamondal are yet to file the nominations," said the CAB official.

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Ganguly might play one-dayers for Bengal: WV Raman

WV Raman, the former Indian opener, will be coach of the Bengal cricket team from September this year after a four-year stint as mentor of Tamil Nadu.

He takes over from former India allrounder, Roger Binny, who oversaw an indifferent previous season for Bengal.

Raman, who had previously coached Bengal in 2001, said he wanted to shift from Tamil Nadu as they had a well-established young unit.

"After four years, a time comes to decide whether you need to continue or not," he said.

"If you look at it, I sort of revived Tamil Nadu and now a young side is doing duty, which can last for another seven-eight years.

That being the case I thought I will have a change.

What could be done to rebuild the Bengal side?" This will be Bengal's fourth coach in four years, with two of Raman's immediate predecessors - Utpal Chaterjee and Binny - having lasted only a season each.

"In fact, Bengal wanted me two years ago," Raman said.

"I thought I cannot leave Tamil Nadu in the midst of them getting into the groove.

I did not want to leave half way through since the job what I wanted to do was not complete." When asked whether former captain Sourav Ganguly would play in the Ranji Trophy, Raman said "Ganguly might play one-dayers for Bengal, if he is going to play in the IPL next season."

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Dada’s second innings at Dadagiri Unlimited

The second season of Dadagiri Unlimited should begin its telecast by mid-August, with a slight change in its format

Even as the FIFA World Cup fever dies down, Kolkata is gearing up to get hooked on to the quiz fever. Shooting for the second season of the quiz show hosted by Sourav Ganguly is all set to begin in the end of this month. The auditions are over and the makers of Dadagiri Unlimited are wracking their brains to make slight alterations in the show’s format to make it more viewer-friendly.

Says director Subhankar Chattopadhyay, “While we are retaining the popular rounds of the show, we are changing the question pattern. Instead of asking academic questions, we want to quiz the participants on their awareness of current issues and their observation powers. We will have more of visual rounds. The ‘slog over’ section was a little lengthy. Hence, we are reworking on the format of this round.”

While celeb contestants remain an attraction, the makers are also keen on introducing bravehearts from ordinary life as contestants. “There are many who silently do their bit of dadagiri. On our show, we want them to share their courageous acts. From teachers to airhostesses, we want to rope in all those who’ve done something that merits a dadagiri tag. As for the sets, we want to increase the grandeur. Jodi prothom set ta East Bengal er maath er sathe tulona kora hoe, ebarer set ta Lord’s er maath,” the director insists.

Producer Anilava Chatterjee says, “The show will be telecast from mid-August. We’ve conducted auditions across 19 districts in 21 venues. We’ve travelled from Darjeeling to Baruipur in a bus to conduct the auditions. Even though there was a
transport strike, 2,000 people turned up for the auditions!”

Well, need we say that’s what Sourav’s dadagiri is all about?

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