Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for making the Indian Premier League (IPL) a massive success all across the cricket playing nations. Ganguly said the BCCI have put in special efforts to make IPL the most watched domestic T20 League in the world.
“It’s done wonders for Indian cricket. The BCCI deservers accolades for setting up the tournament and making it successful. You can set up a tournament but to make it successful like this you need special efforts,” said the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain.
Even as Ganguly picked a few teams as favourites to win the tournament, he said KKR will always remain special for him as he captained the franchise for two years.
“While there are quite a few favourite teams, KKR is special as I captained the side for two years,” said Ganguly.
Asked about special talents in the IPL, Ganguly singled out KKR’s mystery spinner Sunil Narine as the star of the IPL.
“There have been quite a few outstanding talents over the years. The first year threw up some domestic talents as Rajasthan Royal set the stage out. But I think Sunil Narine, he has been the man of the IPL. His impact for the last 3-4 seasons has been unbelievable,” Ganguly said about the KKR spinner who is the most economical bowler in IPL overall.
Ganguly also said the the tournament is very competitive and there is very little to chose between the teams. Ganguly said that while Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been the most consistent team in the tournament, with the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is the team to watch out for in this season of the IPL.
“The best thing about the IPL in the last two seasons is that the difference between the teams has not been much and that is why it has been more exciting. While Chennai have been consistent, we have the Royal Challengers Bangalore having Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Then there is the Maxwell-Miller-Sehwag factor for the Kings XI,” he said.
