In a surprise move, former India and Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly has been signed up by Pune Warriors India as replacement for injured pacer Ashish Nehra.
Ganguly, who was not picked by any team in the January IPL players' auction, was reportedly hopeful of playing for the Kochi Tuskers Kerala with reports emerging that he may replace skipper Mahela Jayawardene who is supposed to join the Sri Lanka team on the tour to England.
In fact, the Kochi team despite not bidding for him during the auction had later on approached the BCCI to allow them to recruit Ganguly outside the auction. However, the IPL's Governing Council had rejected the move.
Ganguly's move to the Pune Warriors has, therefore, has come as a big surprise. Even last month it was the Kochi franchise that had made a bid to bring in Ganguly in place of injured Australian recruit Steve Smith. However, the IPL riled did not permit this as the Australian's base price of US$ 200,000 was lower than Ganguly's base price of US$ 400,000.
Last month, Ganguly had also told a Bengali television channel that he was still keeping his fingers crossed about playing in the IPL.
