Sourav Ganguly: Delhi Capitals' players deserve credit for success

Ganguly, the advisor to the IPL club, believes Shreyas Iyer, the team's captain, is one of the brightest finds of India and “deserves more credit than anybody else.”

Sourav Ganguly: “I think [Delhi Capitals'] players are the most important. They handle the pressure and they take all the decisions in the middle.” Photo: M. Vedhan

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was appointed advisor to the Delhi Capitals Indian Premier League franchise earlier this year, jokingly said he disliked the fact that the team’s good form was being termed a turnaround.

“ Mat bolo yaar, nazar lag jaayega  (Do not say that, you might jinx it),” he said.

Ganguly has been credited for being behind Delhi’s success this season, but he disagrees with that assessment. “I think players are the most important. They handle the pressure and they take all the decisions in the middle,” he said.

'Invaluable' experience

On Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting, his competitive rival on the field back in the day, Ganguly said, “Ponting is great. He understands cricketers. He was the captain of a team which won big tournaments. So he knows how to pace yourself and how to peak at the right time. That experience is quite invaluable.”

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Shreyas Iyer is one of the brightest finds of India, believes Ganguly. As Delhi Capitals captain, he is all the more exuberant. “He is young and a very good captain. Everybody will not be an M. S. Dhoni or a Virat Kohli or Steve Smith. Being younger, he deserves more credit than anybody else.”