Date:13/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/13/stories/2008041359931800.htm

Sport - Cricket

IPL will help young Indian players: Ponting

KOLKATA: Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels the Indian Premier League (IPL) will help young Indian players to mature.

“The opportunity the young Indian players will get to play with experienced International cricketers will certainly help them mature into good prospect,” he said during an interaction with the media after the first day’s practice session of the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Ponting said the IPL would help bond players from different countries to play as a team and it would help the game. When pointed out that the relationship between Aussie and Indian players was not at the best during India’s tour of Australia, the Aussie captain said apart from a few incidents, the two teams had a pretty decent relationship during the tour.

Ponting said he was looking forward to playing under Sourav Ganguly. “He is a good player and a great captain. After a pretty long time, I will be playing without the pressure of being the captain of the side. ” he added. — Special Correspondent