Date:14/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/14/stories/2008031456451900.htm

Sport

We have a good bowling attack, says Ganguly

Special Correspondent

No place for one-upmanship, says the captain

— Photo: AP

TALL ORDER: Shah Rukh Khan hands over a helmet to Ishant Sharma at a function in Mumbai on Thursday.

MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan has moved beyond Chak de India and hockey to the Indian Premier League and cricket, but questions about the Indian men’s team missing an Olympic berth came up at the Mumbai launch of Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.

“No player goes to lose,” he said when asked about the road ahead for Indian hockey. “We are asking for resignations of people concerned with the sport. This is the time to take a step back, take stock of the situation.”

Shah Rukh continued: “Remember we have four years ahead to plan. Our focus should be to build a strong group of players by the time the next World Cup arrives. Once India builds the best team possible, all the gold medals can come back to us.”

Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL’s Kolkata franchise is owned by his company, Red Chillies Entertainment, and will include players from Australia, Pakistan, West Indies besides Indian internationals from different parts of the country.

Captained by Sourav Ganguly, the team will be coached by Australian John Buchanan.

Asked whether it was difficult to get people from different regions and different backgrounds to play together for one team, he said: “Please don’t bring in regionalism and religion into sport. Once you become a sportsperson, regional and religious differences don’t matter. It is the game that matters,” said Shah Rukh.

No issues

The team’s captain Ganguly ruled out the possibility of any one-upmanship arising between Akhtar and Ishant over the fastest bowler tag.

“We have a good bowling attack for Twenty20. Shoaib Akhtar is one of cricket’s leading pace bowlers and Ishant has just come back from Australia where he proved his worth. Ajit Agarkar is another with ability to bowl fast,” said the ex-India captain.

Kolkata Knight Riders will have two current ODI captains in Ricky Ponting (Australia) and Chris Gayle (West Indies).

The Indian, given the mantle of captaincy in the IPL, was asked about the problem he may face leading two captains. “Each player has a reputation to defend. When Ponting goes out there to bat for Australia, club or World XI, people coming to watch expect good performance from him.

“The same applies to other big names in international cricket. When India toured Australia for the Test matches, we had four ex-captains in Sachin Tendulkar, me, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, who is the current Test skipper. India’s display in the Tests was one of the highlights of the tour.”

Hoping to win

Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Aakash Chopra and Ganguly were presented the Knight Rider helmets by Shah Rukh.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was also a recipient of the helmet, which is supposed to be a symbol of the team’s ethos.

“I chose the name Knight Riders from the term ‘Knights in Shining Armour’ who go out to fight wars. Winning and losing is all part of sport, we will play to win.”