A 11 yr school boy's day out with DADA..!!

He was the aggressive captain with the shirt-stripping victory dance. But as quiz master on a Bengali channel, Sourav Ganguly is short on gimmicks, big on smiles. He appears to have mellowed down. “You can almost call me docile,” he says.

Shubhajit haldar is a surprisingly patient 11-year-old. He turns up on a quiz show set right after school and quietly stands in a corner, cradling his cricketing helmet and pad, careful not to run into the TV crew gone berserk at the Howrah Indoor Stadium auditorium. As the producer rushes him backstage, you wonder if he is an exception to the PlayStation generation. But Shubhajit would not miss this chance for anything.

After all, he was born in a Bengal which had, by now, eagerly edited its bible of legends to include Sourav Ganguly, and in whose shirt-stripping victory call, Bengalis had found a befitting answer to Rajinikanth’s cigarette-flick. The Class VI student’s cameo in Ganguly’s prime-time quiz show on Zee Bangla, Dadagiri Unlimited, has also urged his parents to leave their respective jobs for the day and be in attendance on the set for eight long hours.

“I dress up in my cricketing gear, and hand over dada the gifts he gives to the participants. During breaks and before the shoot, he talks to me, discusses cricket, shows me a trick or two. It’s tiring after school, but I would do anything to be around dada,” chirps Shubhajit, who has been learning cricket for the last five years.

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Ganguly abt his lyf in Dadagiri !!

In his make-up room, Ganguly, like his school-going fan, shows little trace of being hounded by a monster called the Kolkata Knight Riders. The room is clean and sparse, the clothes hanger nearly bare, the rifle-wielding security person is requested to stand out for a while, and he has just finished his day’s make-up. (“Takes two minutes actually,” he says with a laugh.) “I did the show to try out something different. I used to be very camera-shy, not much of a TV personality, but I wanted to see where this thing takes me,” says Ganguly, who is now doing the second season of the show.

You wonder what made him choose a Bangla show populated with fawning middle-aged women, starstruck men, and difficult general knowledge questions, when he had been on national TV, rubbing shoulders with Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora Khan, tasting showbiz in its skin-sequin-sound best.

He frowns in recollection of his stint as a judge on Knights and Angels, the TV hunt for a KKR cheerleader that he did before taking up Dadagiri. “I was extremely uncomfortable doing it. I did it as part of KKR, and I had cricket at the back of my mind. I didn’t understand it, I didn’t like it a lot either,” he says. 

Those who’ve met him off the field, like cricket writer Ayaz Memon, say Ganguly is showing his other side to the public for the first time. “He was almost mercurial on field. And off the field, he was confident, sharp and knowledgeable. The latter is what we get to see on the show,” he says. A side that has impressed the average Bengali.

And Ganguly knows that too well. “I was known to be aggressive as a cricketer. But that was largely situational and driven by a passion for the sport. Otherwise, I am very quiet and soft-spoken. You can call me docile. I am just being myself on the show. I make the contestants comfortable. You might think they are star-struck, but Bengalis are very demonstrative by nature,” he says. 

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Don't be disheartened, Yuvi: Sourav Ganguly

If I continue to be dropped like this, I will definitely have to look for something else." Yuvraj Singh may have said this in a lighter vein after being ignored for the recently concluded Test series against Australia which India won 2-0.

Well, he will have some serious thinking to do after being left out from the Indian squad for the forthcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand starting November 4 in Ahmedabad.

However, Yuvraj's former captain Sourav Ganguly has urged him to keep the faith despite being disappointed.

Incidentally, Yuvraj, who last played a Test in July against Sri Lanka, had replaced Ganguly in the Test team during the former captain's lean patch in 2005-06.

Ganguly was later dropped from the team following the row with coach Greg Chappell. "Yuvi should not get disheartened. There's no point looking at what has happened. He should look forward and perform whenever he gets a chance," Ganguly told MiD DAY yesterday.

Yuvraj, was first done in by dengue on the Sri Lanka tour, due to which Suresh Raina made his Test debut. And the Uttar Pradesh batsman grabbed the opportunity with both hands to cement his place.

Another youngster, Cheteshwar Pujara, who made a sparkling debut in the second Test against Australia in Bangalore, took away even the slightest of chances Yuvraj had to make a Test comeback.

However, yesterday's decision by the selectors does not mean it's the end of the road for the Punjab dasher, felt Ganguly. "Yuvraj is a talented guy. With so much of cricket being played, I am sure he will get a call-up whenever somebody is out of form or injured. That's when he can prove his mettle," he said.

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Bengal stars of CWG 2010 inspired by Sourav :CWG Medalists

POULOMI GHATAK - - >

National ranking: 1

Delhi CWG show: Silver in women’s team event, bronze in women’s doubles.

How life has changed: “The state government has arranged for our felicitation. We have never received any appreciation from them before, not even a letter or a phone call. So this is a marked change (in attitude). But they are giving flats to a chosen few (sportspersons), which isn’t right. If I don’t get a flat this time, I am determined to move out of the state.”

CWG medal she treasures most: “The doubles bronze with Mouma. She and I go back a long way and winning a doubles bronze in the CWG at home with her will always be special.”

CWG moment: “It was after the doubles bronze. I usually break down when I lose. But this time I found myself crying after winning. Mouma, who was hugging me, said: ‘Pom, you are shaking’. I became very emotional.”
Fiancé Soumyadeep Roy being there: “I blindly followed his advice on diet and exercise. I even used the racket he asked me to.”

Life at the Games village: “We were very apprehensive before entering it. But we found it to be world class. At the Melbourne CWG in 2006, there were no ACs in our rooms. Nobody complained once the officials explained that the weather was usually more pleasant at that time of the year and, so, they hadn’t installed ACs.”
Sports and sportspersons she loves to watch: “I love tennis and badminton.I watch ODIs too, and admire Sourav Ganguly, especially his leadership qualities.”

SOUMYADEEP ROY - - >

National ranking: 1

Delhi CWG show: Bronze in men’s team event.

How life has changed: “The adulation has been terrific this time as the Games were played at home. Even friends and relatives seemed more appreciative. As a team, we had done better in the Melbourne CWG, winning gold.”
Fiancée Poulomi Ghatak being there: “Oh yes! I was a bit down after one of the team games for which I had been ignored by the team management, and which we lost. But she was full of support and it helped me come back in the tournament.”

Next target: “The Asian Games, of course. We will try our best, though it will be tough with China, Korea and Chinese Taipei around.”

Sports and sportspersons he loves to watch: Tennis and football. “I used to be a huge fan of Boris Becker and Andre Agassi. Now it’s Federer. In football, it’s Christiano Ronaldo and in cricket, of course, Souravda (Ganguly). The comeback by Dada in December 2006 is my biggest inspiration. Around the same time, I was down after being dropped from the Indian side. The way Dada stamped his authority on that Johannesburg Test gave me the confidence to work hard and make a comeback.”

Best wishes to both of them Frm SG fans..!!!

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Tendulkar best cricketer in the world: Ganguly

City: Once Bharat skipper Sourav Ganguly said Sachin Tendulkar is the human cricketer in the humanity. Having played together for eld strongbox he old from global cricket, Ganguly said: "I shelter't seen Sir Donald Bradman performing, but I mortal seen Sachin. To me, he himself is a mark, and the unexcelled cricketer in the domain."

The Bengal ace said Tendulkar, who has been conferred with the the ICC Cricketer of the Assemblage is the personation pose for many.

"He is 37 now and is ease accomplishment noticeable. He has proven that action is the net phrase in cricket," Ganguly said.

The Big Tercet of Asian cricket - Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - are thorny to put.

"After they discard, the gap can be filled in. But it would be trying to lay them. These players are a league obscure," he said.

He also praised Bharat officer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "Dhoni is doubtless a really obedient pilot. He has helped Asiatic cricket cultivate. But at the same term, we should not forget that there are players similar Sachin and Rahul in the unit, who are match-winners. Cricket is a aggroup line," Ganguly said.

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Sourav, Sheffield FC to play soccer in city tournament

KOLKATA: Sheffield Sport Edifice of England, the humanity's oldest football club, leave sicken endeavour along with the port triumvirates - Mohun Bagan, Easterly Bengal and Mohammedan Just - in a competition that would see former Amerindic cricket officer Sourav Ganguly on a polar pitch.

Closed rector and Mohammedan Just chairwoman Swayer Ahmed on Weekday said Sheffield FC would use attempt in the 'Mohammedan Just Platinum Jubilee Cup', existence unionised by the club succeeding month to memorialize the 75th year of its premiere finish in the Calcutta football association in 1934.

The triumph was also the prototypal win of the then prestigious conference by any Soldier group.

The order has roped in late Amerindic cricket officer Sourav Ganguly, also a intelligent football lover, to be the sort diplomat of the competition, Ahmed said.

Ganguly would also be seen performing for Mohammedan Sporting in the tournament, to be held in knockout assumption.

The quadruplet teams would be tined into two groups in a effect. The archetypal two matches would be played on Nov 12 and the winners would wit the final two days later.

The Indian Football Relationship (IFA), the governance embody of the line in the express, has authorised the supply, during which a line song of the nine would be launched.

The postal section has also agreed to a offering to work out a unscheduled dress on this uncomparable function, the federal diplomatist of nation for business said.

As try of the system, Ahmed said, the lodge has decided to commence 'Mohammedan Just Jewels' allocate to be bestowed to late players, coaches and officials of the gild.

Apiece year one such personality would be worthy, he said.

The nine would also acquaint 'Mohammedan Juvenile Scholarships' to be supposition to iii precocious footballers of Bengal each gathering.

The club would also deal a quiz contest on sports and football among 100 schools in the utter also felicitating former sport greats of the edifice, he supplementary.

Interpret many: Sourav, City FC to alteration football in metropolis tournament

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Sourav brand ambassador for Mohammedan Sporting cup

Calcutta, Oct 19 (IANS) Renowned soccer club Mohammedan Fair Tuesday roped in once Soldier cricket headwaiter Sourav Ganguly as the brand embassador for the Mohammedan Fair Platinum Jubilee Cup being held to fete its ending in the 1934 Calcutta Sport Association.

Mohammedan Sporting had then disappointed Dalhousie Hit to displace the association.

'Past Asiatic cricket policeman Sourav Ganguly, who is also a football lover, has specified his respond to be the name ambassador for the Mohammedan Fair Platinum Jubilee Cup. He gift also don the someone and discolor jersey of Mohammedan Sporting Club,' Order presidency Sultan Ahmed said here.

Asia Bengal, Mohan Bagan, England's City Football Hit and entertainer Mohammedan Just instrument be the quaternion teams in the tournament, which is to be played on a knock-out part at Kolkata's Diplomacy Lake Structure Nov 12 and Nov 14.

'Metropolis Football Building supported at Yorkshire in UK has united to arise to the metropolis for the competition and be a leave of the respected second,' said Ahmed.

The postal division testament get a special recording to memorialise the gild's tasteful story. 'At the point, we are employed on the organisation of the bedding,' Ahmed accessorial.

The perform sport society is also set to begin 'Mohammedan Jewels' - an grant to reward its other players, coaches and officials. The club will also pioneer 'Mohammedan Cohort Scholarship' for the most precocious cohort footballers of Bengal. Every gathering, figure period footballers leave be awarded payment scholarships.

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Sourav Ganguly Celebrates DURGA PUJA 2010 (Rajini style)-SG the PHOENIX

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Sourav Ganguly NDTV Interview -SG the PHOENIX

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KKR all set to receive blessings of Goddess Durga

Metropolis: This Durga Puja, the Goddess leave be seen tapestried in a sari resembling the Metropolis Chessman Riders (KKR) milcher, a uncomparable intent which the group believes would supply them undergo her blessings in the next IPL competition.

The SRK Fan Building of City has locomote up with a six-foot-tall simulacrum of Durga, garmented in a color and golden-coloured dress inspired by the milcher of the Shahrukh Khan-owned team.

One transfer of the ten-armed Goddess is seen clutching the aggroup's list.

KKR is owned by Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta.

On all quatern life of Durga Puja, around 400 members of the fan hit would love the deity, installed at the nine's premises at Rajarhat on the north-eastern outskirts of the metropolis, praying for their aggroup's success.

"The stylish trey IPLs were a disaster for KKR, so we module love Ma Durga for the caretaker success of our heron Shahrukh Khan and his unit KKR," Arnab Roy, desk of the 13-year-old fan hit, said.

The fans believe that the idol leave convey phenomenon and success to the cricket squad and their heron SRK.

"But it is also for the whole city and supporters of KKR as we anticipate that the puja module provide them a cerebrate to grinning and meet the squad's conclusion in IPL 4," he said.

All the rituals would be performed as usual during the puja with the ameliorate of a voodoo who leave also channel a 'yagna' on the day of Asthami.

To satisfy the Goddess, the supporters would also substance a 'pushpanjali' with 101 lotuses.

"Led by the locution of 'Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo!' (we module do it, agitate it, and win it), KKR is impassioned by bravery, younker, talent, desire, direction and content. And our puja instrument container this never-say-die fiber of the group," Roy said.

The fans, nevertheless, give not ensue the implementation of immersing the idols in facility after the rituals are over.

"We leave go to Bombay on his date on November 2 to recognise the idol to Shahrukh Khan himself. It module be kept in the Red Chillies staff or SRK's abode 'Mannat' forever," he said.

Despite beingness one of the most favorite IPL teams due to the condition of superstar Shahrukh Khan, the Sourav Ganguly-led KKR is the exclusive aggroup to soul never prefab it to any of the IPL semifinals.

Withal, as per a reflection through by Kind Economics, a UK-based firewood valuation militia, the Knights are valued at 46 cardinal US dollars, the second most priceless IPL concern kind.

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Yuvraj will come back like Dada

Pissed Yograj Singh wants son to emulate Sourav Ganguly.

Mohali, Punjab, October 2, 2010 - "I don't requisite to utter nearly cricket. It makes me displeased. Seriously. What happened? What is going on is all rubbish," a frustrated Yograj Singh. Yuvraj Singh did not get picked for India's starting Experiment unit against Continent in the Border-Gavaskar Honor.

When asked nigh Yuvraj's dropping, Yograj said: "I want to appear the humans that my son can attempt cricket for at smallest 10 author geezerhood. I faculty pee reliable this happens. I testament get him wager in change shape."

Fans disturbance

Meanwhile, at the Punjab Cricket Tie structure, fans with Yuvi posters prefabricated it comprehendible that they were nonexistent their anaesthetic heron. Yuvraj is currently preeminent Intermit of India against Metropolis in the Irani Medallion at Jaipur.

Utterance about Yuvraj's shape, Yograj said: "His suitableness is a bit of a difficulty. But I conceive with the Iranian Accolade, he module vantage corroborate his fitness. He was with me for the ultimate few life.

"He's done his good and is disagreeable knockout. I am 100 per coin trustworthy he testament amount back into the squad righteous equal Sourav Ganguly did. "He told me that he give arrival to the select like Sourav - with the self substance and motive similar the other India pilot. There is no incertitude that Sourav is the magnate of comebacks," he another.

Yuvraj's care Shabnam is also very enkindle and believes that her son present pioneer a prospering comeback. I believe he module be indorse in the endorse rattling quick. He is very discovered and is excavation marmoreal parcel now," she said.

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DADA named in the Technical Committee of BCCI

DAda in Tech COmmittee of BCCI :

81st Reference Unspecific Breakfast OF BCCI

Subject Ngo

1. MR.SUNIL GAVASKAR Head

2. PREM THAKUR (Statesman)

3. P R ASHOK ANAND (Southeast)

4. GOUTAM DASGUPTA (Asia )

5. MADHAV RANADE (Western )

6. VIJAY NAIDU (Midway)

7. K SRIKKANTH (Chair SENIOR Pick COMM)

8. SOURAV GANGULY (Past Examine CRICKETER)

9. V K RAMASWAMY (Onetime Check Official)

10. N SRINIVASAN HON. SECRETARY/CONVENOR

Piece OF Excavation COMMITTEE FOR 2010-11

1. SHASHANK MANOHAR Chair

2. N SRINIVASAN HONORARY Escritoire, Chairwoman Selected

3. SANJAY JAGDALE HONORARY Articulatio Helper

4. M P PANDOVE HONORARY TREASURER

5. ARUN JAITLEY Evilness Chairperson (Northeast)

6 SHIVLAL YADAV Evil PRESIDENT (Southwestward)

7. ARINDAM GANGULY Evilness Presidentship (Eastern)

8. NIRANJAN SHAH VICE Chairwoman (Westward)

9. RAJEEV SHUKLA VICE Chairperson (Work)

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Sourav Ganguly, Milind Deora in Bigg Boss 4?

Quatern new traducement hump surfaced on the Bigg Pol 4 guest-list. The take, that flags off on Sunday day with Salman Khan as a computer, is potential to possess guests like actors Mandakini and Saltation Malhotra, cricketer Sourav Ganguly and player Milind Deora. It's learnt that the planning team from Emblem, the canalise helming the take, and the squad from Endemol, the creation business anchoring the show for the endure quartet seasons, somebody been entering into hour-long meetings ordinary to squeeze in the ultimate guestlist for the pretense that module worst 84 days on air and run bulbous the hebdomad. Hmmm..:)

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I will like to coach the national team - Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has said on Saturday that he would like to be the coach of the Indian team, if such an opportunity comes his way. "Though it's not my immediate goal, I will like to coach the national team. It will be a great honour," Ganguly said on Saturday while addressing the India Today Youth Summit in Delhi.

He will, however, like to do things differently from former India coach Greg Chappell because of which he had to lose his captaincy and later his place in the team. "I think the captain is the boss of the team, the coach should remain backstage," he said.

In the session Going For Broke chaired by Headlines Today Executive Editor Rahul Kanwal, Ganguly said his coaching will revolve around five central rules: friendly relations with media, no use of media to sideline a player, being honest with players, work with the players, gaining their confidence and staying at the backstage.

On being asked what keeps him going, the Bengal Tiger said that the love for the game inspired him to make several comebacks. "After I was dropped from the team in 2006, even my father thought I would not get any chance. But I had faith in myself. I still get high when I score runs," he said.

He admitted cricket was not his first choice. Like most Bengali teenagers, his first love was football. But injuries forced him to give up football and he turned to the game he would rule when he was in Class IX. "My elder brother played cricket, so I started going out with him to play. That's how it began," said Ganguly.

He also said that his cricketing journey, filled with so many ups and downs, has moulded his character. It has taught him that winning was not always everything. "Of course people expect you to win every time, and you can't move ahead if you don't deliver, but the most important part is the amount of struggle you go through to achieve your goal." he said, "There are more bad days in sports than good ones. But people remember the good days only." He said that failures have made him a better person.

On being asked how it felt to sit out of the team, Ganguly said that it was like a punch to his face. "When I was out of the team, the newspapers made me feel like everything I had done for Team India was wrong. Then I got picked up after six months and suddenly people said there was none better than me. That's when I realised winning is not everything," he said adding that "it's not important how many times you fall, but how you get up every time".

He advised youngsters not to worry much about winning as that adds pressure. "If you are honest to you profession, some day you will surely win."

The southpaw also praised the efforts of boxer Mary Kom who despite several hardships and obstacles has brought glory to the country by becoming World Woman Boxing Champion five times in a row.

The most successful Indian captain ever, Ganguly attributed his success to his teammates. "A team-mate is as good as his team. I had so many talented players in the team and they delivered. We must remember cricket is a team game." Among all the captains he played under he singles out Tendulkar as the best. "Everyone, including my father, points to Tendulkar's captaincy record when I say this, but I really blossomed as a cricketer under Sachin," he said.

Ganguly, who opened in ODIs with Tendulkar, said that he considered the 60-plus partnerships with the master blaster as the most memorable in his career. "After we lost to Australia in the World Cup 2003, there was a huge public reaction against our dismal performance. Our next match was against Zimbabwe and I was very tense. Tendulkar came up to me and said that it was the most crucial game of his life and we must win it. It was a small partnership, but it changed our course in the World Cup and we reached the final," he said. On being asked if he could do something differently in the 2003 World Cup final, he said, "I wish we could bowl better. Every time I asked Zaheer to bowl a particular delivery, he did the opposite."

He also admitted that his tactic of keeping former Australian captain Steve Waugh waiting for him during the toss was a deliberate one. "It was my way of being at the same level as they were." He also recounted his encounter with Steve Waugh the very next year at Brisbane where Waugh had asked him, "Could you be on time for the toss this time?" "Only if you stop writing," replied Ganguly.

Clearly in a mood to interact with the youngsters present at the summit, Ganguly was at his wittiest best. "Was hitting sixes against leg spinners your success mantra," asked one delegate to which Ganguly replied, "It was my way of venting out my frustration after facing the fire from the Pollocks and Bret Lees."

On being asked how he had felt after taking off his shirt at the Lord balcony after India had won the NatWest series against England, he said, "I felt cold as it was very cold in London." He also said that he might take off his shirt again if Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL.

Ganguly believes that Indian cricketers are not involved in match-fixing. He however refused to agree that it's not about Pakistani players only. "The bookies know who to approach. They observe the players, their behaviours and how they speak to the press or on TV." On being asked how he dealt with the match fixing crisis after he took over the reigns of Team India in 2000, he said, "Almost all the players were new. So we made a fresh beginning. We did not talk about it. I did not have to deal with it much."

Ganguly also sees no wrong in politicians managing sports. "If their intentions are right, anyone can manage sports. But it's better if administration is managed by politicians and the sports aspect by players," he said. The former India captain believes that the Commonwealth Games in India will pass off successfully. "India has the huge ability of surviving disasters. It's not okay to blame one person for what is happening. If it fails, all are to be blamed."

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Ganguly tips Raina for future success

Sourav Ganguly, who as captain transformed the India team into a winning unit by backing a few handpicked talented youngsters, has put his money on two for the future - Suresh Raina and Cheteshwar Pujara.

The former India captain picked the two for their excellent temperament and talent, which could see them representing India for long. While Raina made a sensational Test debut recently, Pujara has been selected for the upcoming home Test series against Australia.

Asked about the future of Indian cricket once the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retire in a few years, Ganguly said that talent keeps popping up.

"You might get quite a few Gangulys, maybe lesser number of Dravids, but you won't get many Tendulkars. There is talent in India," he said at the India Today Youth Summit here on Saturday.

"You see Raina's progress, though it's still early days in Test cricket. He showed tremendous temperament in the two Test matches in Sri Lanka recently. He has got the ability and he played a tremendous knock in Champions League T20 semi-finals (for Chennai Super Kings in Durban on Friday). He's got the ability but we will have to wait and see." Ganguly said that no one imagined Tendulkar and Dravid would fill the gap following Sunil Gavaskar's retirement in 1987.

"These guys have excelled in Test cricket. For all cricketers, Test matches are the most important format and it's important that recognised players do well in this format. I am sure India will keep producing players and, as I say, India always finds its way out of disasters," he said.

The Bengal player also praised Pujara, who plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders, captained by him. "No one is close to Tendulkar or Dravid. [But] I can say who can play for a longer time. Raina can, if he keeps improving. It's important in sport that you keep performing every day. Pujara is one. I have seen him closely for the last two- three years for the Knight Riders," he said.

"He's got a terrific attitude towards batting. He keeps batting all day, which is important as a batsman, if you enjoy batting. Raina and Pujara are two young players who I think have a great future."

Besides, Ganguly said there are "other young players who have got talent, but it is about what you do with your talent". As India captain, Ganguly backed players several young players like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh who still form the nucleus of the team. He picked Sehwag as the most talented of the bunch and backed him to the hilt.

"At a selection committee Former India captain says Pujara also has a good mix of temperament and talent meeting in Mumbai, I decided that Sehwag has to go [with the team] whatever happens.

I told the chairman that this fellow needs to be on the team because I feel he is a terrific player, and one of the selectors got up and said 'you must be mad'," he recalled.

"I said 'why'. He said ' don't do that, the short ball will kill him.

Please send him with me to Hong Kong next month for a sixa- side tournament and I think he will be very useful there'. They thought he could never play the short ball, he didn't have any footwork. And you see where Sehwag is today," he said proudly.

Ganguly underlined that Sehwag can play the short ball well. " Geoffery Boycott, a technician, always spoke about his lack of feet movement. But India has produced a lot of great players - Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag, who have been absolutely comfortable against the short stuff. It's how you deal with it because a lot of it is mental.

It is a problem with Indian batsmen, but there have been batsmen who have overcome it and become greats," he pointed out.

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Sourav Ganguly to judge Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa 4?

After a successful innings on the field, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is likely to judge dance reality show Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa 4 for Sony TV. The popular cricketer has been offered the show along with actress Madhuri Dixit and former Indian batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu, a source told IANS.

Ganguly had earlier judged Knights & Angels, a reality show to select cheerleaders for Indian Premier League (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders, and Sidhu has been popular for his deafening laughter as a judge onThe Great Indian Laughter Challenge.

If all goes as planned, this will not be the first time sportsmen will be seen on Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa. In the first season, cricketer Ajay Jadeja had grooved on the stage, followed by hockey player and coach Mir Ranjan Negi in the second season. And Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia walked away with the winner's trophy in the third season of the show.

The fourth season of Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa, the Indian version of Dancing With The Stars, is expected to go on air in December this year or January 2011, once the upcoming season of Kaun Banega Crorepatiwith megastar Amitabh Bachchan comes to an end.

The dance show features celebrity participants who are paired with struggling choreographers to learn the nuances of dancing.

Last season was judged by ace choreographers Saroj Khan, Vaibhavi Merchant and actress Juhi Chawla.

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