Sourav Ganguly.
| Photo Credit: AFP

File image of Sourav Ganguly.© BCCI

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stand as the third-most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise at this point in time, having won three IPL titles, all featuring Gautam Gambhir in some capacity. However, things weren’t so rosy for the franchise in the first three seasons, when they failed to achieve a single IPL playoff finish, twice under the leadership of legendary India captain Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly was eventually not picked by KKR in the IPL 2011 mega auction. Former KKR team director Joy Bhattacharjya revealed the messages he received from angry fans when Ganguly wasn’t picked, and the extent of team owner Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement in the decision.

“When Sourav Ganguly was not bid for, within five minutes I got 400 messages on my phone. There was somebody who put on all groups saying, ‘This is a Bengali who has betrayed our Bengali icon Sourav Ganguly, please tell him what we think of him’,” revealed Bhattacharjya, speaking on ‘A Century of Stories‘ podcast.

“It reached a stage where I had to turn around and tell my dad that perhaps he should take down our address board from his house in Salt Lake,” Bhattacharjya adds.

Joy Bhattacharjya revealed who exactly had been behind the decision, and Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement in it.

“Shah Rukh first distanced himself. He said, ‘If you want Sourav, keep Sourav. If you don’t want him, your call,” revealed Bhattacharjya.

“Dav Whatmore was the coach, I was there, Venky Mysore the CEO was there,” Bhattacharjya said, speaking on who decided that Ganguly would not be retained.

KKR’s decision to not go for Ganguly but instead put their faith in Delhi-born Gautam Gambhir for a then IPL auction record sum of over Rs 11 crore ended up being a blessing in disguise.

Gambhir captained the team to two IPL titles (in 2012 and 2014) and then played an integral role as team mentor as KKR won their third (in 2024). Overall, KKR has reached the playoff stage on six out of eight occasions with Gambhir in the team.

Ganguly eventually played two further IPL seasons, after being drafted in by the now-defunct Pune Warriors India (PWI) franchise as a replacement for New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder. In IPL 2012, under Ganguly’s leadership, PWI finished bottom of the table.

Gambhir’s success with KKR as team mentor – leading to KKR achieving statistically the most dominant season in IPL history – saw Gambhir being appointed as Team India head coach after Rahul Dravid‘s departure.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has heaped massive praise on ex-opener Virender Sehwag. According to Ganguly, Sehwag is the greatest India opener after Sunil Gavaskar. Sehwag, who played for India from 1999 to 2013, was one of the most fearless batters the world of cricket ever witnessed. He played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs, scoring 8586 and 8273, runs respectively. In 19 T20Is, Sehwag scored 394 runs. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Ganguly made the statement in the trailer of “The Greatest Rivalry – India vs Pakistan”, a documentary series on the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan. The documentary is set to premiere on Netflix on February 7.

“After (Sunil) Gavaskar, the greatest opener is Virender Sehwag,” said Ganguly.

Ex-India opener Sehwag made his ODI debut against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1999 and played his first Test against South Africa in 2001. He is the only Indian batter to have scored two triple centuries in Test cricket. Overall, Sehwag is the fourth batter to have achieved the feat, with Don Bradman, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara being the other ones to reach the milestone.

The right-handed batsman also scored a double century in the ODI format. He slammed 219 runs against the West Indies in 2011.

Sehwag hit 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries in the longest format of the game. He was also adjudged ICC Test player of the year in 2010 as he scored 1,282 runs in 10 Test matches, including six centuries.

In ODIs, Sehwag smashed 15 hundreds and 38 half-centuries.

Sehwag, who was also known as the ‘Nawab of Najfgarh’, was a threatening presence for bowlers during his peak days. With his zeal and ferocious approach to scoring runs quickly, he developed an unbelievable career. The right-handed batter went on to amass over 16,000 runs for India across all formats, cementing his place in Indian cricket’s pantheon.

File photo of India coach Gautam Gambhir and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly© AFP

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday (January 20, 2025) refused to read much into Virat Kohli’s prolonged lean run and hailed the batting maestro as the “greatest white-ball player” and “once-in-a-lifetime cricketer”.

Kohli struck a second innings century in the opening Perth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but then managed only 85 runs in the next seven innings.

With seniors such as Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma failing to deliver, India lost the series Down Under 1-3.

“Virat Kohli is a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. To score 81 international centuries in a career is something unbelievable. For me, he’s probably the greatest white-ball player the world has seen,” Ganguly said during a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB felicitation programme for the state’s players.

Reflecting on Kohli’s struggle after the Perth century, Ganguly said even he was surprised to see him not build on that hundred in the remainder of the series.

“I was really surprised the way he batted after getting a 100 in Perth. He struggled before that but I thought after the 100 in Perth, it’ll be a big series for him.

“But I think it happens. Every player has his weakness and strength. You know, there’s no player in the world, who will not have that. It’s how you adapt to your weaknesses as you play great bowlers over a period of time.”

With Kohli’s poor form being a topic of discussion, Ganguly expressed confidence and said he would be back at his best in the three-match ODI series against England and the ensuing Champions Trophy.

“He will score runs in this tournament in Indian conditions, and I still feel there’s a lot of cricket left in Virat Kohli, the tour of England will be a big challenge for him.

“I’m not too worried about his form in the Champions Trophy, because as I said, he’s probably the best white-ball player the world has seen for a long period of time.”

‘India are Champions Trophy contenders’

Ganguly further said India would be one of the contenders in the Champions Trophy, especially after their runner-up finish in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup title triumph last year.

“I know India did not have a great series in Australia, but if you look at the last two World Cups, the T20 World Cup India won it unbeaten, and the 50-over World Cup India lost their final.

“So if you look at India’s performance in the last two World Cups, they’ve just lost one game, in almost about 20 of them. So, I think it’s a phenomenal white ball team. For me, they will be the favourites in the Champions Trophy.”

It will be a different Rohit come CT

Ganguly also backed struggling Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to return to his best in the Champions Trophy.

“Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket is phenomenal, and you will see a different Rohit Sharma once the Champions Trophy starts. And as I said, they (India) will be one of the contenders in the tournament.” Ganguly, however, said India need to work on their Test cricket with their next series being in England in the coming summer.

“Come England in July, they’ll have to really work hard to play well there because the conditions are different. The red ball and the seaming, swinging pitches, they’ll have to bat a bit better than what they have done,” Ganguly said.

“I’ve always said that if you score 350 to 400 runs in first innings of Test matches away from home, you get yourself in a position to win Test matches.”

“Now if you’re getting out for less than 200, then you’re always fighting from behind. And the reason they won in Perth is because they got 400-500 runs on the board in second innings.”

Shami next best after Bumrah

Ganguly was also excited to see pacer Mohammed Shami back on his feet and fully fit after a long injury layoff.

“I’m happy to see Shami fit because I think he’s probably the best bowler after (Jasprit) Bumrah in the country.

“I know he’ll be a bit nervous because he’s playing cricket after a long time, especially with a knee injury, but the good thing is that he bowled a lot for Bengal in the domestic cricket, which is going to help him in the games to come,” he said.

Shami will return to international action in the series-opening T20I against England here on Wednesday.

Ganguly also supported the idea of Shami returning to Test cricket, stating, “He’s as good as anybody in the world. Shami and Bumrah bowling at two ends is different than Bumrah bowling from one end. Both players are vital to each other’s success in Test cricket.”

There has been a lot of criticism of Team India following their loss to Australia and Ganguly stressed the importance of focusing on performance and maintaining a strong mindset amid all the noise.

“There’s so much at stake with sport these days, and there will be negativity and opinions. As an athlete, you need to find a way to keep yourself out of it,” he advised.

Former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary has gone on a rant in criticism of current senior national team head coach Gautam Gambhir. Tiwary and Gambhir have been teammates in the past, not just in the Indian Premier League but also for the Delhi state team. As Gambhir faces criticism over his poor handling of the Indian team, owing to the recent results against Australia and New Zealand in Tests, Tiwary went on to brand him a ‘hypocrite’, who doesn’t do what he himself preaches.

The criticism Gambhir faced recently, especially from Tiwary, saw India pacer Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, jump to his defence. But, Rana’s defence doesn’t surprise Tiwary.

“Why wouldn’t Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn’t have that much first-class experience. Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him,” said Tiwary in a chat with Hindustan Times.

“I have said nothing wrong. This is PR which I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don’t know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident,” he added.

Tiwary also opened some old chapters of his relationship with Gambhir, saying the latter even abused his family and said bad things about former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

“When he fought with me during the Ranji Trophy match in Delhi, everyone heard every word from Gautam Gambhir’s mouth. Whether he was talking bad about Sourav Ganguly or whether he was abusing my family, he was protected by a few of the individuals. This is the PR I am talking about. The process of picking players and selecting them in the playing XI is not happening properly. Akash Deep was dropped in favour of Harshit Rana. If you thought Harshit was so good, why didn’t you continue with him for the rest of the series? Akash Deep doesn’t have a voice,” said Tiwary.

Tiwary remains sceptical of Gambhir’s decisions in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He questioned the selection of players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal over other proven First-Class cricket performers.

“How was Devdutt Padikkal included in the Test squad, he was out of the equation. How did he come into the mix when Abhimanyu Easwaran was there, scoring so many runs non-stop? He has scored so many runs. Why wasn’t he selected and not played at No.3. These are the kinds of things happening, and the results are there for everyone to see,” he asserted.

Former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly gave a brutal verdict on the Test series loss against Australia and said that Indian batters need to score big in red-ball cricket. Ganguly pointed out that India will not be able to win Tests if they continue to post small totals and advised them to aim at scoring 350-400 in order to provide a solid foundation to the bowlers. India were defeated 1-3 in the five-match Test series against Australia and their loss in the final Test in Sydney ends any hope of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has faced a lot of criticism, Ganguly did not single out any player and said that all of them need to score runs for India to win.

“We did not bat well, we have to bat well in Test cricket. If you do not bat well, you will not win Test matches. If you score 170, 180, you cannot win Test matches. You have to score 350-400,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.

“No one can be blamed. Everyone has to score runs,” the former India captain added.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma wilted under the traditional Australian tactic of mentally breaking down the opposition captains during the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, said former spinner Kerry O’Keeffe.

India lost the five-match series 1-3 and Rohit made just 31 runs from three Tests at an average of 6.20.

“They couldn’t bring down (Jasprit) Bumrah. He was too good. But then the baton was passed to Rohit Sharma and they brought him down straight away, to the extent that he withdrew from the final Test,” O’Keeffe told Fox Sports.

“So that’s a tactic they seem to want to do if they can, if they can break the skipper and make him anonymous, it empowers them,” he added.

It may be recalled that former Australian pacer Glenn McGrath used to make pre-series predictions as how many times he will dismiss the opposition captain and it often worked against the likes of ex-England skipper Michael Atherton.

Bumrah led India in the first Test at Perth in the absence of Rohit, who stayed back in India for the birth of his second child.

India won the match by 295 runs. The 37-year-old Rohit took over from Bumrah in the second Test in Adelaide, but his personal form and the team’s fortunes went south from that point.

Eventually, Rohit “opted out” of the fifth and final Test Sydney with Bumrah returning to guide the side.

(With PTI inputs)

Delhi Capitals entered the WPL 2025 Auction with a budget of Rs 2.5 crore, aiming to fill four slots. They successfully secured wicketkeepers Nandini Kashyap and Sarah Bryce, all-rounder N Charani, and young talent Niki Prasad. “Very good auction for us to be honest. I’ve been with this WPL team for two seasons now, watching them closely, involved in the auction and everything. And we are far stronger squad than we were last year, with Nandini and Sarah in the squad now, we are looking very good,” Sourav Ganguly, Director of Cricket – Delhi Capitals (WPL) reflected after the auction.

Delhi Capitals were on the hunt for a backup wicketkeeper and their first buy, for Rs 10 lakh, was Nandini Kashyap. The 21-year-old wicketkeeper recently scored 247 runs at a strike rate of 125.40 in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy for Uttarakhand.

“I was surprised to get her for 10 lakhs, we wanted to get one of Nandini, Simran or Kamalini, but we didn’t expect to get Nandini so cheap. To get Nandini and Sarah Bryce at that price is remarkable,” Ganguly revealed.

Engaging in a bidding war with Mumbai Indians next, Delhi Capitals signed 20-year-old all-rounder N Charani for Rs 55 lakh. She played nine matches for the Gujarat Giants last season. To bolster their squad further, Delhi Capitals acquired Scotland’s wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Bryce for Rs 10 lakh. She has 1,290 runs in 58 T20I matches.

Wrapping up their auction, Delhi Capitals secured 19-year-old Niki Prasad from Karnataka for Rs 10 lakh. She was recently named captain of the U19 team for the inaugural women’s U-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

With these additions, the Delhi Capitals’ squad now boasts a well-balanced and formidable lineup, including Indian stars Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma and international players Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen.

Delhi Capitals WPL squad:

Indian players: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Shikha Pandey, Taniyaa Bhatia (WK), Minnu Mani, Sneha Deepthi, Titas Sadhu, Nandini Kashyap (WK), N Charani, Niki Prasad.

Overseas players: Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Sarah Bryce (WK).

File image of Sourav Ganguly.© X (Twitter)