Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: ‘Akhtar needs to click’

‘Akhtar needs to click’
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SportsDesk on 15 May, 2008 03:23:35
 
By SUNDARI IYER
Mumbai, May 15: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly felt that it was
purely up to the selectors to pick a player on his performance, and that he was
confident of an ODI comeback soon.
"It depends on the selectors to pick a player for the 50-over format seeing his
Twenty20 performance or vice versa," he said here on Thursday.
Twenty20 is regarded as a youngster’s game but that has been proven wrong by
seniors in various teams of IPL with the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Sanath
Jayasuriya and David Hussey showing their experience and class in the format.
"I have always maintained that class and performance is what matters and not
age, but it has become a trend to focus on age it seems. Hussey, Gilly, Sanath,
all of them are above 30 but that doesn’t show in their performance," said the
35-year-old.
With Shoaib Akhtar making a dramatic impact in his opener for the Knight Riders
and with Sachin Tendulkar back for the Mumbai Indians, how was he looking at the
game?
"We have a decent bowling attack in Shoaib, Ishant Sharma and Ajit Agarkar.
"I would want that Shoaib takes the wicket of Sachin, Sanath, and Uthappa and
the work is almost done for me," said the prince of Kolkata with a smile.
After having faced Akhtar and now with him alongside, what did he feel about
the "Howrah Express"? "Thank God I am not at the receiving end now."
Finding openers has been a problem for the Knight Riders after the departure of
their imports.
Said the skipper, "Our team has been affected the most after the departure of
the foreign players.
"But we have tried different combinations and done well."
"Aakash Chopra is not like Sanath but then he is still does the job for us,"
added Ganguly.
Ganguly has surprised everyone by winning two man of the match awards and some
decent bowling, on which he felt, "It is bad that even after 30 years I still
surprise people."
Talking about the opposition Ganguly said, "They are a good side. Sanath is
back in form and with Sachin back in the team, it is anybody’s match."
Shah Rukh Khan has been the lucky charm for the Knights. And the motivation
that the team has got from his presence is immense. "Shah Rukh is the owner and
we do get motivated by his presence and so we ask him to come for our games."