Former India captain Sourav Ganguly expressed confidence on Saturday that the nation’s spinners, especially Varun Chakravarthy, would be crucial to a successful title defense at the next T20 World Cup.
Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar make up the formidable spin assault that hosts India have chosen for the ICC premier tournament, which gets underway on February 7.
“Yeah, nothing (home WC) gets bigger than that, and India is always my favourite team. They have a strong spin attack and if Chakravarthy is fit then it’s good for India,” a PTI report quoted Ganguly, who coaches Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, while talking in an interaction with a select media gathering in Cape Town.
The 53-year-old southpaw, who took on the head coaching position for the first time in his career, stated that he wanted to get more experience while working.
“First time ever in my life, head coach. But I am enjoying it. Actually, I am very close to (Delhi Capitals co-owner) Parth (Jindal), so he asked me to do this, so I did it.
“I am also learning. I may have played any amount of matches, captained any amount of matches, but this is different. I am coaching and I am doing this to learn and understand,” stated Ganguly, who also serves as the Delhi Capitals’ IPL Director of Cricket.
The Pretoria Capitals upset the Paarl Royals by 21 runs at Boland Park in Cape Town on Saturday to move up to third place in the standings. Ganguly was naturally thrilled as it was their second consecutive victory.
“When you play any big tournament, whether it’s a World Cup, IPL or SA20, the back-end gets very tight and competitive and that’s where you need to be at your best. It’s a very important point. You know these sort of wins when you defend one side, it actually gives you a lot of confidence. Hopefully we will continue to do that. But in sport, every day is a new day. So we’ll pick ourselves up and start fresh the day after tomorrow,” he detailed.
Additionally, Ganguly was thrilled to begin his coaching career in South Africa, where he had some fond memories as a player.
“This has been a great place for us. I have come so many times here, the World Cup finals, in 2003. We lost, but we were exceptional in the tournament. South Africa is a place for cricket. You can see how good the tournament is.
“The stands are full, even on a weekday, people come and watch. Whether it’s Cape Town, whether it’s Pretoria, whether it’s Paarl because it’s a cricketing country, it’s been a great tournament,” he said.
