Tipped to be returning back into the mainfold as the skipper for the third edition of the Indian Premier League, Sourav Ganguly will join the team think-tank – Shah Rukh Khan and Jay Mehta – in Mumbai on Sunday and the trio ‘interview’ former India coach John Wright, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram and former India batsman Pravin Amre.

Sources close to the team pointed out Wright and Akram are the only high profile candidates in fray.

The duo are known for their closeness to Ganguly, though the New Zealander is unlikely to get the post as he does not have any experience of coaching Twenty20 side.

As for Akram, who has Twenty20 experience with Hampshire, may not take up the post on a full time basis as it would clash with his commentary assignments.

If the Pakistani great is roped in, there would be a different role, similar to that of a consultant that would not demand a full time availability, according to a source.

Ganguly has earlier said the decision will be taken by Shah Rukh and Mehta and that he would have a say.
“I am more concerned with the team. Jay and Shah Rukh will decide on the coach,” Ganguly had said.

Sunday’s meeting may also decide on the pending captaincy decision, that is almost certain to go to Ganguly, whose contract with Knight Riders will expire after the upcoming season.

Former English cricketers Richard Pybus and Dermot Reeve, and former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan had given presentations last week.

The Knight Riders have also apparently approached Dav Whatmore and Duncan Fletcher among the other foreign candidates.

“Pybus is said to have emerged as the favourite as the management was impressed with his presentation. He has been asked to stay on for a second round of meeting on August 30,” a Knight Riders source in Mumbai said.

Among the Indian candidates, Knight Riders have interviewed W V Raman, Ashok Malhotra and Lalchand Rajupt.

There are also unconfirmed reports that the side has also contacted the likes of Chandrakant Pandit and Paras Mhambrey.

The fingers will be crossed

The right-hander maintains that the longer version would always remain the pinnacle of the game. McCullum said he wanted to become a premier Test batsman and does not think the traditional format of the game cricket is on its deathbed. “Test cricket is still so special. I cannot see that it’ll ever die,” he said. “It may take a different course, but I don’t think it’ll die. There’s too much history, there’s too much support, there are too many purists out there for it to die,” McCullum was quoted as saying in an ICC release.

Making a comparison of both the formats, McCullum said, “Twenty20 is a vehicle to get more people to the game so that cricket has more followers. If we can do that and then we can even have a small percentage of them into Test followers, I think we would be doing our job. I cannot imagine Test cricket dying. Of course guys have their priorities and maybe the youngsters would like to play Twenty20 a little more but Test cricket would still survive because it’s the pinnacle of the game.”

Dwelling on keeping, McCullum, who represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, said Australian stumper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has changed the game for the glovesmen. “Adam Gilchrist changed the face of what a wicketkeeper’s role in the team was. He was phenomenal and he did it against all trends and he changed ideas of how a wicketkeeper should be involved in the team,” he  said.

It certainly is good news for the tournament and for the rebel stars who were left in a lurch not long ago. We have a game on guys!

Dada aka Sourav Ganguly is most certain to be back as the captain while former India coach John Wright will be taking over as the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the third edition of the Indian Premier League in 2010, various media reports pointed out on Saturday.

The official word is still, sources said that there could be a major reshuffle with former India coach Wright likely to replace John Buchanan as Knight Riders coach, while former Aussie middle-order mainstay Michael Bevan will be in the coaching panel.

Sources have confirmed that Ganguly had a one-on-one with owner Shah Rukh Khan when the duo had met recently in London to receive doctorates by the University of Central Lancashire.

“Both Dada and Shah Rukh Khan had a meeting and discussed on this when the left-hander was in London last week. They have agreed in priniciple that Ganguly will lead the side,” the source mentioned.

However, the KKR management are tightlipped about this development. It has to be seen as to how this new development shapes particularly when the team performed miserably in the 2009 season and were plagued with controversies especially after Ganguly was dethroned just two days before the start of the tournament.

The news of Ganguly taking over the reins come a day after he was being roped in by a Bengali channel to host a show called ‘Dadagiri’….

Sure enough, Dada is back and how!

Read the excerpts mentioned below:
“At the end of the (inaugural IPL) tournament I told something he did not want to hear. ‘I really think your game was off the pace and the more you play T20, the more harm you will do yourself,’ I told him. Sourav responded to my frank assessment by claiming he had at least one more year of 20-over cricket in him. He told me his main aim was to get into the Test side against Australia, an aim he did achieve before announcing his Test retirement. He basically said to me ‘Thank you for your concerns, but I don’t agree with what you are saying’— Buchanan wrote. 
The ex-Australian coach pointed out that the format of T20 was tad too late for players like Ganguly. “…Ganguly had created an incredible brand for himself in India. It might seem strange, but this is why I question his suitability for and need to play T20. I am concerned that he will erode his brand, his stature, by playing in the IPL,” Buchanan pointed out.
Not surprisingly, Buchanan finds Ganguly to be a man of contradictions but also interestingly mentions him to be a fascinating leader.
“Our captain Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, or Dada as he is affectionately nicknamed, is a fascinating character, a man of contradictions. I am sure psychologists would find him intriguing,” wrote the 56-year-old.

“I found him a gentleman to work with yet I finished the tournament still feeling I didn’t know him,” he said. Buchanan also tried to explain Ganguly’s habit of turning late at toss in the 2004 series against Australia which infuriated rival captain Steve Waugh.

“I went into the IPL with an open mind about Sourav, who had been an antagonist of Australian sides I coached. He is a lovely person but he lives in his own world. He used to drive Stephen Waugh crazy by being late for the toss. That might have been partly strategic, but also he was simply unaware of its importance. He would be in the rooms, in his own world, when he would be told it was time for the toss. He would not be ready and would have to get changed before meeting his by-now irritated opposing captain,” he said.

Buchanan remarked that Dada’s habit of irritating the opposition was not always pre-meditated. “Ganguly has always had the ability to mentally unsettle his opponents. It was not always by design but Waugh saw it as lack of respect and common courtesy. At times, I feel Sourav is guilty of that, but on the other occasions, I believe he is simply in his own world and loses track of time. He gives off impression that everything will happen in good time, but it will be in his good time. He is not too concerned about other people’s views about him…that is not to say he is arrogant. I have always found him very humble, polite and respectful, but to have him somewhere arrive on time… Well, let’s just say he was mercurial,” he wrote.