Ganguly picks Narine as IPl's best
Kolkata: Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday picked mystery spinner Sunil Narine as the "man" of the Indian Premier league (IPl) cricket tournament. "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 ablaze. "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 spinner ahead of the opening ceremony of IPl-8 here.
Representing Kolkata Knight Riders in the cash-rich T20 league, the West Indian has taken has 67 wickets from 47 outings in the tournament so far.
Dd mentor promises big improvement in ipl-8
chennai: Delhi Daredevils' mentor T A Sekhar on Tuesday asserted that his team will put up a much improved show in the IPl-8 beginning on Wednesday. "We should be doing much better than what we did in the last
two years. We have strengthened our team with the hope to bringing
overall improvement in the team since we won only two matches last
year," Sekhar said. Talking to the media within hours after the team checked into the hotel, Sekhar said "we have looked at our all weaknesses and
where we lacked last year in particular. We have got a very good spin attack and left am seamers in the team this time. We have taken Jayant Yadav, who is the third highest wicket taker in Ranji this season."
‘Kotla track will be prepared without any problem’
New Delhi: Former India opener and DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan on Tueday made it clear that the state association will be preparing the tracks at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground "without any interference" from the Delhi Daredevils for its home matches in IPl-8. Chauhan is supervising the Kotla strips being prepared by one of the youngest BCCI curators Ankit Datta and is eyeing to prepare a "firm strip with even bounce". "The BCCI has clearly stated that there should be no interference from the franchises in regards to preparation of pitches. Obviously, if they want to suggest anything, they are welcome to do so but the state association will be independently preparing the track," Chauhan said. He said that Daredevils are happy with strip. "If you look at the two T20 practice matches played by Daredevils
at the Kotla, there has been 170 plus scores in both matches. So we will certainly prepare a track where batsman can play their shots. Also we will leave a little bit of grass as it helps to bind the surface and also will be instrumental in having a good carry," said the former opener.
‘Hope conditions help my swing bowling in IPl’
New Delhi: Eager to experience his first IPl outing, Sunrisers Hyderabad's New Zealand import Trent Boult is hoping that Indian conditions will help him carry forward the good work he did during the recently concluded World Cup. Boult, who bagged 22 wickets for runner-up New Zealand in the World Cup, was snapped up by SRH for a whopping Rupees 3.8 crore - a massive surge from his base price of 50 lakh - in the February auctions. The left-arm seamer is keen to swing things for SRH."Yes, the length changes I guess. I have played a few games in India and the wickets here are a bit slower. With the night games and humidity, the moisture in the air, I hope the ball swings and hopefully I get success with that. I will try and pitch the ball up as much as possible to get the ball swinging," Boult said. Excited to rub shouldersBoult is looking forward to share the dressing room with the seasoned Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma. Agencies