Friday, August 21, 2009

Sourav Ganguly interView on Sachin

Reporter: You were seen as a mentor at the Kolkata Knight Riders camp, as the team is without a coach. How did you enjoy your new role?

Sourav Ganguly: It's not the question of a new role. I was just helping everyone out with the camp. We have not appointed a coach yet, which we will do shortly. So Adrian Lareau, myself, Andrew Leipus, Joy Bhattacharya, Joydeep, Jeet - they were all there trying to help the boys get together and organise the nets. So we are all trying to work together to get the camp going.
Reporter: Has anybody been decided as the new coach?

Sourav Ganguly: I have no idea. We have had a lot of people applying for the job, everyone at KKR has decided on a policy of selecting a coach, and that will happen in due course. But at the moment there are no such names which are being considered.

Reporter: John Buchanan's stint was cut short. How long will the new coach's tenure last?

Sourav Ganguly: I don't want to go back on what went wrong last year.

Reporter: Buchanan's plans didn't seem to work.

Sourav Ganguly: It happens in sport. It doesn't work at times. But it's past for us and we need to look forward.

Reporter: Team owner Shah Rukh Khan has said you have an important role to play.

Sourav Ganguly: It's not just my plans. Cricket is a team sport, we'll all have to get together and make sure that the team gets together well and gets an atmosphere where they can perform well. Twenty20 is a different kind of sport to Test cricket or ODI cricket where there is time. So you have to create an atmosphere where people enjoy it and still play freely to do well in the tournament.

Reporter: Now that the BCCI has allowed ICL players to play in the IPL, have you got any targets?

Sourav Ganguly: It's only been decided yesterday that the ICL players can be a part of any franchise. So I'm sure just like any other franchise we'll also be trying to get players. It depends on who has already signed up and who hasn't.

Reporter: Don't you think that Rs 20 lakh is too meagre an amount?

Sourav Ganguly: I'm not the decision maker in that. The BCCI and the IPL committee is the decision maker, so I shouldn't be making a statement.

Reporter: On the new WADA rule about the whereabouts of the players...

Sourav Ganguly: Again, it's a decision between the players, the BCCI and the ICC. My job and time of sorting this is over.

On new role as a TV show host.

Sourav Ganguly: It's different, I'm learning a lot of things. Hopefully I can get better every time.

India's chances with Zaheer and Sehwag ruled out of the Sri Lanka tri-series

Sourav Ganguly: India still has the team to beat Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the tri-series. Sachin's back, hopefully Rahul Dravid will be back soon. They still have the strength and the combination to beat the teams.

Recently, Sachin Tendulkar has said he's eyeing 15000 runs in Test cricket.

Sourav Ganguly: As long as he is fit, nobody can stop him from performing. When you have players like Dravid, Kumble was there until recently - you cannot stop such great players from performing at any stage of their careers. They have come here because they have performed consistently over a period of 15-20 years. That's why they are great players and they'll continue to perform.

Tendulkar was your opening partner in one-day cricket. Do you think you could have also achieved as much as he has?

Sourav Ganguly: No. I have taken a decision to quit, I'm sure he will take it at some stage. To be honest, he is a bigger player than I am. He deserves to go whenever he wants to, he's probably the best in the world, along with Brian Lara. He can play on till any time he wants and I'm sure he'll give performances.

He has decided to play the 2011 World Cup

Sourav Ganguly: Why not? If he's fit, looks after his body, he will keep getting runs. He just needs to look after his body and he will be an asset to the team.

How do you see your role after the third edition of the IPL?

Sourav Ganguly: We'll see. Let's get past the third edition and then we'll see for the next one.

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