Super skip Sourav shows the way

Despite all the humiliation of last year's IPL, KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly has proved that he has enough fuel to fight another battle

Despite all the humiliation of last year's IPL, KKR skipper Sourav Ganguly has proved that he has enough fuel to fight another battle

HAVING scaled such great heights, most in his place would have felt better off without putting so much on the line in the twilight of a career. But, that's what makes Sourav Ganguly different.

There's no other Indian cricketer who has been in the centre of controversy so often as him. His Indian Premier League tryst has been no different.

He went through the trauma of being asked to step down from captaincy in the second year as John Buchanan turned out to be the second Greg Chappell in the Kolkata legend's career.

Accepting the challenge of leading a team that finished at the bottom of the pile and was the butt of many jokes, is a huge risk.

KKR skipper Sourav Gangulyu00a0celebrates the wicket of Deccan Chargers' Andrew Symonds during their IPL opener at the DY Patil Stadium yesterday.

Ganguly has gone ahead and done just that and the way he marshaled his troops in the opening game of the third edition of the Indian Premier League yesterday, he proved he has some fuel left in the tank for another fight.

Kolkata Knight Riders shrugged off a poor start against defending champions Deccan Chargers to score a 11-run win under floodlights at the Dr D Y Patil Stadium, Nerul.

Ganguly said on the eve of the first game that he wanted his team to play freely without any pressure.

The way his team coped with pressure against Chargers yesterday, it seems Ganguly was successful in sending the message across.
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From a hopeless 31 for four, KKR recovered to post 161 for four in 20 overs.Owais Shah and Agnelo Matthews led the fight back with invaluable unbeaten half-centuries.
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Then, Chargers were off to a flier with Adam Gilchrist and VVS Laxman scoring 61 in 5.5 overs. With Gilchrist blazing away, it looked all over for KKR at 99 for one in 11 overs.
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That is when Dada started weaving his magic with clever bowling changes and field positions. From there on, KKR bowlers struck at regular intervals to wrap up proceedings.