Friday, June 03, 2011

Ganguly hopeful of playing in IPL 2012

After an ordinary showing in the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly Thursday said he hoped to feature in the next season of the cash-rich league as well.

"A lot of players moved in to new teams. I have moved to Pune Warriors in the late stage of the tournament. Hopefully, I will feature in the next season as well," Ganguly said.

The 38-year-old, who was not picked by his old IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders this season, failed to find a team when the players went under the hammer for the tourney in January.

However, the window to the IPL opened for the charismatic left hander when he was included in the Pune Warriors side in the later stages of the tournament, replacing an injured Ashish Nehra.

However, Ganguly could score only 50 runs in three innings at an average of 25.00.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme, Ganguly predicted that the Indian team would win the West Indies series.

"India will surely win the West Indies tour. I am also backing them against England but beating them would be tough," he said.

India take on West Indies in June followed by a long tour of England in July.

The man regarded as one of the best Indian captains ever was all praise for the incumbent skipper M.S. Dhoni. "He is the main man. He has won us the World Cup and straight after that he led his team to IPL glory. He is a wonderful captain and a player."

Asked about India going into the tour without seasoned campaigners like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, Ganguly replied: "It's a very good chance for youngsters."

He said youngsters like Wriddhiman Saha should make the best of any opportunity.

"For me, what's more important is opportunity. So if Parthiv (Patel) is there, I don't know how many chances he (Saha) will get. He should make the best of any opportunity," he added.

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