Ganguly’s IPL comeback bid hinges on an injury pullout

It will take something out of the ordinary for the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Kochi franchisee to get Sourav Ganguly in their ranks.The former India captain was unsold at the IPL auctions held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9. HT reports.

It will take something out of the ordinary for the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Kochi franchisee to get Sourav Ganguly in their ranks.The former India captain was unsold at the IPL auctions held in Bangalore on January 8 and 9.

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Media reports on Friday linked Ganguly to a possible move to Kochi but for that to happen, one of the 17 players the franchisee bought at the auction will have to get injured.

“According to rules, no team can take a player who was not bought from the auction pool,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar told HT from Nagpur on Friday.

Manohar said a team could ask for a replacement from the auction pool only if any of the players they bought becomes unavailable because of injury or illness. “There would be no bidding, the player concerned will get his base price in such an eventuality.” Ganguly’s base price was $400,000 (Rs 1.84 crore).

Manohar, however, said he was unaware of any such request from the Kochi team. Till Friday evening, there was no news of any injury or illness on the Kochi roster either.

After the auctions, IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman had said the same thing. “These (unsold) players cannot be approached by any team except for the case of replacements in case of injuries.”

An IPL insider, preferring anonymity, said: “No team was willing to take Ganguly since he is a pain when it comes to team harmony. Even after the auction, he has called all the 10 teams requesting to be picked.”