Saurav Ganguly will play for Pune Warriors after the Indian Premier League (IPL) newcomers signed up the former captain as a replacement for fast-bowler Ashish Nehra, who was ruled out with a finger injury.
Ganguly will be vice-captain to Yuvraj Singh and has signed a one-year contract after he surprisingly went unsold at the IPL auction held earlier.
“We were waiting for Nehra’s fitness report,” said Abhijit Sarkar, Pune’s team director. “I was already in talks with Ganguly and we decided that the amount of experience that he has will no doubt help the team.
“He is playing in IPL not for money but to prove a point. He has been a fighter and a master of comebacks. We are very much confident that he will prove his worth.”
Ganguly, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three editions, has made 1031 runs in the IPL at an average of 28 and could strengthen Pune, who languish at the bottom of the ten-team tournament.
Kochi beat Deccan
Brendon McCullum and Parthiv Patel helped Kochi Tuskers Kerala overhaul the 141-run target to beat Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets in the IPL. Kochi seemed to be in a hurry as McCullum took just 19 deliveries to make 37 before Brad Hodge helped finish the game off with Patel in just the 15th over.
McCullum put on 61 with Michael Klinger in just 32 deliveries and even though both openers were dismissed in the space of 10 runs, Patel held one end steady. The wicket-keeper added 52 with Hodge in five overs as Kochi registered their fourth win in nine games.
Earlier, Vinay Kumar claimed two for 25 to ensure Delhi did not reach a sizeable total. Captain Virender Sehwag failed with the bat again and even though Venugopal Rao made 40, Delhi had to be content with a modest total.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2011.
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