Sourav Ganguly represented Pune Warriors India (PWI) after being sacked by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for team’s poor performance. Former PWI team director Abhijit Sarkar recently spoke about the impact of him at the now-defunct franchise and the fact that he was selected for saying that he still had cricket left in him.
In an exclusive interview with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket’s Facebook page, Abhijit Sarkar revealed that Yuvraj Singh had initially been the franchise’s choice for captain, but his health issues forced the team to look beyond him. Yuvraj continued to play for various franchises until 2019.
Sourav Ganguly Was Appointed Captain In Place Of Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh, who was the Man of the Tournament in the 20011 ICC Cricket World Cup and also one of the top performers in 2007 T20 World Cup both of which India won was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in the left lung and underwent chemotherapy treatment in 2011 before returning to play for India in 2012 and played till 2019.
When asked about how Sourav Ganguly made his way to the team, Sarkar said: “There was dissatisfaction about the team’s performance. Yuvraj came just after the World Cup and tried his best, according to his health limitations. But by the end of the year, we came to know the shocking revelation about his health and he was gone. We selected Yuvraj as the captain for the next 3 years.”
“We selected Robin Uthappa, Angelo Mathews. Steve Smith was just coming up. Sourav kept telling me, ‘I still have cricket in me’. Who better than Sourav to bring the team together. We thought we will make him the captain and ultimately take over as the coach also,” Sarkar stressed upon.
Sourav Ganguly retired after IPL 2012 and left PWI. PWI named Angelo Matthews as captain in 2013. Ross Taylor, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith also captained the franchise in some matches.
Sourav Ganguly Fans In Kolkata Supported Him In Pune Colours Not For KKR
Abhijit Sarkar further highlighted an incident when PWI faced off against Sourav Ganguly’s first Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), at the Eden Gardens. He mentioned that the ground was filled with PWI fans, owing to Dada’s fan following and KKR was not supported despite being the home team.
“When we went to Kolkata, the whole stadium was full of Pune flags and zero Knight Riders flags. We lost by very few runs but that was the popularity of Sourav. That was the beauty of the IPL. Kolkata was supporting Pune Warriors and not Kolkata Knight Riders,” he asserted.
Sourav Ganguly was signed by PWI as a replacement for the injured pacer Ashish Nehra after being released by KKR and going unsold in IPL 2011 auction. After an unsuccessful season in which PWI finished second-last on the points table, Yuvraj Singh’s departure further increased the team’s problems.
The 2012 season, for which the current BCCI president was appointed the full-time captain, didn’t see them performing as per expectations. Sourav Ganguly was relieved of his captaincy role midway through the season but was retained as a mentor for the franchise.
But the decision was reversed but still, Pune finished last with 4 wins and 12 losses that year and Sourav Ganguly retired from all formats in 2012. PWI withdrew from IPL following financial differences with BCCI in October 2013 after playing their last match in May 2013.