Former Indian cricket team captain Saurav Ganguly, who made headlines in January for not being picked by any team during the IPL players' selection, has been signed on by Pune Warriors to replace injured Ashish Nehra.
Nehra is recuperating from a fracture sustained by his right middle finger during the World Cup 2011 India-Pakistan semi-finals. Due to the injured finger, Nehra had missed the World Cup 2011 finals, and has been unable to play a single match for Pune Warriors, who bought him for $850,000 during the selections.
The announcement of Ganguly joining the Pune team comes as a surprise to Kochi Tuskers, who attempted twice to recruit Ganguly after the completion of the IPL players' selection in January 2011. The first attempt was thwarted by the IPL's Governing Council, which refused to allow the Kochi team to have Ganguly among its ranks.
When Tusker's Aussie cricketer Steve Smith sustained injuries in April, the Kochi management tried to recruit Saurav once more, but the IPL management refused their bid on the grounds that Ganguly's base price ($400,000) was higher than that of Smith ($200,000).
Saurav Ganguly played on behalf of the Kolkata Knight Riders during the first 3 seasons of the IPL, and went unselected for season 4. Wounded by the fact the he was no one's favourite during the IPL selection, Ganguly had in February stated that there were no chances of him playing competitive cricket any longer.
One can reasonably expect Ganguly to be on the ninth cloud for finally being a part of the Indian cricket scene again.
filed in:Cricket, IPL 2011, Pune Warriors, Saurav Ganguly, Ashish Nehra