Ganguly joins Pune Warriors in IPL4

Tuesday, May 3

Ganguly joins Pune Warriors in IPL4

Saurav Ganguly in action for KKR @ IPL3

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been signed by Pune Warriors as a replacement for Ashish Nehra, who was ruled out for the remainder of the 2011 season with a finger injury. Ganguly's contract is for a period of one year and is an IPL lifeline to the batsman after he went unsold at the player auction in January, where his base price was $400,000.

Ganguly will be vice-captain to Yuvraj Singh and is likely to join the Pune squad ahead of their match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on May 4.
"We were waiting for Ashish Nehra's fitness report and ultimately the report came yesterday," Abhijit Sarkar, Pune's team director, told PTI. "I was already in talks with Ganguly and we decided that the amount of experience that Sourav has in cricket will no doubt help the team. So we finalised Ganguly last night.

"He is playing in IPL not for money but to prove a point. Our team think-tank felt that Sourav Ganguly is the best possible option available so we went for him. He has been a fighter and a master of comebacks. We are very much confident that he will prove his worth."

Ganguly played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three seasons of the IPL and led the team in two of them, while Brendon McCullum was captain for the other. Kolkata fared poorly in those years and are the only franchise not to make the semi-finals. Kolkata did not bid for Ganguly in January despite his name coming up for sale twice, as they revamped their squad entirely, and the batsman later refused a mentoring role with the franchise.

Pune Warriors are bottom of the ten-team league at present, having lost six consecutive matches after winning their first two. Ganguly has an average IPL record - 1031 runs at an average of 28 and strike-rate of 110 - and could strengthen an under-performing and short batting order.

Original post: http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2011/content/current/story/513563.html

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Web to Print SoftwareFebruary 26, 2012 at 5:34 AM
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What Others Say about Tendulkar

In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best.

Desmond Haynes

I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best.

Sir Garfield Sobers

He is 99.5 percent perfect. I'd pay to see him.

Viv Richards

I have never seen Bradman but heard people talk about him. But I tell you what, if Bradman could bat like this man does then he was dynamite. Players like Sachin deserve to be preserved in cotton wool.

Viv Richards

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel.

Sir Donald Bradman

Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will.

David Boon

You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon.

Steve Waugh

There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don.

Steve Waugh

Sachin is cricket’s god.

Barry Richards

Destined to be a great.

Barry Richards

First and foremost, Tendulkar is an entertainer and that for me is as important factor as any fact or figure. Too often boring players have been pushed forward as great by figures alone. For sheer entertainment, he will keep cricket alive.

Barry Richards

India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing.

Sunil Gavaskar

A complete batsman — he's the best in the business.

Mohinder Amarnath

Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to bet he one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him.

Jeff Thomson

If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.

Dennis Lillee

I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player.

Shane Warne

You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, 'Mate, do you see any weaknesses?' Lillee replied, 'No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride, that's all you can do.

Shane Warne

When it comes to judging the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under different circumstances and under different conditions, whether it is Test cricket or one-day internationals. And more importantly, he has done this so young.

Shane Warne

You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer.

Shane Warne

Much has been made of my personal contest with Tendulkar. Some people have said that my duel with Tendulkar in India in 1997-98 was the most compelling Test cricket they have ever seen, but there is no doubt he enjoyed the better of the exchanges. He has played me better than anybody. Most Indian batsmen pick the length very quickly, even when it is flighted above the eyeline, but Tendulkar moved into position even earlier than the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Rahul Dravid. His footwork is immaculate. He would either go right forward or all the way back and he has the confidence to go for his strokes. I suppose I would be confident too if I batted as well as Tendulkar.

Shane Warne

Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours.

Michael Kasprowicz

Hell, if he had stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it.

Allan Border (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in Sharjah)

He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease.

Greg Chappell

I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay.

Greg Chappell

He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop.

Mark Taylor

Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him – he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too.

Ian Healy

He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.

Richie Benaud

His stroke off the backfoot, particularly off the pace bowler, is extraordinary – the next thing you know is that someone is picking the ball up from the gutter.

Richie Benaud

He's better than Ben Hur.

Paul Wilson

I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world, ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara.

Glenn McGrath

There's no doubt about it. He is the best.

Tony Grieg

Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow – nothing is a problem.

Geoffrey Boycott

Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it.

Peter Roebuck

A little genius. Reminds me of Sunny Gavaskar.

Keith Fletcher

He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards.

Eddie Barlow

What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars.

Paul Strang

Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time.

Wasim Akram

To me he is the complete batsman. What has impressed me most about him in his focus and determination to do well. I think the youngsters can learn a lot form just watching him play and emulating his determination. Despite being so immensely gifted, he is still so determined to excel every time he goes out to bat for his country, it is something I have always respected.

Wasim Akram

While I keep hoping he gets out, I must admit that his strokeplay is a treat to watch.

Mark Waugh

I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India.

Mathew Hayden

I have always felt C. K. Nayadu was the best. I now think Sachin has the honour of being the most outstanding batsman of all time.

Cricket Historian, Vasant Raiji

His shot selection is superb, he just lines you up and can make you look very silly. Everything is right in his technique and judgment. There isn't a fault there. He is also a lovely guy, and over the years I’ve enjoyed some interesting chats with him.

Allan Donald

By far the best I have seen or played against.

Allan Donald

Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal.

Brian Lara

The thing I admire most about this man is his poise. The way he moves, elegantly without ever looking out of place in any condition or company, suggests his pedigree.

Bishan Singh Bedi

Why I've always liked him is that batsmen tend to be negative at times and I think batting is not about not getting out – it is to play positively. I think you got to take it to the bowlers and Sachin is one such player. When you do so, you change the game, you change bowlers because they suddenly start bowling badly because they are under pressure.

Graeme Pollock

The more I see him, the more I want to see him.

Mohammad Azharuddin

Playing in the same team as Sachin is a huge honour. His balance of mind, shrewd judgment, modesty and, above all, his technical brilliance make him my all-time hero... You can't get a more complete cricketer than Sachin. He has everything that a cricketer needs to have.

Rahul Dravid

The thing I like the most about Sachin is his intensity. After being in the game for so long, he still has the same desire to do well for India in any international match. I tell you what, this man is a legend.

Sourav Ganguly

Read them all Here