I was never approached by Kochi: Ganguly

Scotching media speculations, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly Thursday said he was never approached by the Kochi franchise after he failed to find a team during the auction for the coming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

A section of the media recently reported that the Kochi franchise, set to make its IPL debut this year, had tried to rope in Ganguly.

"I don't have much knowledge about Kochi, you guys seem to know much about the team ufffd till now, I have not been approached by any team," Ganguly said at a programme here.

On India's WOrld Cup squad, Ganguly reitereated that pace bowler S. Sreesanth should have been included.

However, he said: "All other players are very good. I am sure India will do very well.

"They have very good batsmen. The bowlers have bowled well against South Africa.

"However, South African wickets have good bounce, which is not there in the sub-continent. But bowlers like Zaher (Khan), Ashish (Nehra), Munaf (Patel), they know how to bowl to a particular opposition on a particular ground of the sub-continent," Ganguly said.

In a message to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and team members, Ganguly said: "We will support you whatever happens. If you win, it's fantastic. If you don't we will still support you as we think u are one of the finest teams in the world. It's a good and settled side with a great bunch of boys."

Ganguly also favoured a second wicket keeper for the side. "All teams will have two wicket keepers. It's important that Dhoni remains fit."

Ganguly also refused to name any team as favourites for the Cup, saying Pakistan will be the dark horse, while Australia's had a surprise pace attack that includes (Brett) Lee and (Shaun) Tait. He said West Indies had a strong batting line up while the presence of Jacques Kallis made South Africa a formidable outfit.

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