We need to keep going: Ganguly

It was ‘Dadagiri’ all the way as the Pune Warriors India halted the Delhi Daredevils’ winning streak at the Feroz Shah Kotla here today. Contributing with the bat and the ball, Sourav Ganguly skippered the visitors to a superb 20-run win.

The man who has led Indian cricket to glory in the Test and one-day formats is now captaining his IPL side to stake a claim on the most prestigious trophy in the shortest format of the game.

He may have lost the toss in the game against DD, but he got what he wanted anyway, as the PWI captain said, “If I had won the toss, I would have batted first.”

After scoring a 35-ball 41, the 39-year-old brought himself on to bowl and broke the partnership between Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen that threatened to take the game away from PWI. He rattled Pietersen’s stumps off his first ball and then sent back Irfan Pathan. Speaking about his performance, the Man-of-the-Match said, “I just look to perform every time I get the opportunity; I don’t worry about anything else. I just look to score runs.”

On whether it has taken him some time to get back into the groove, a matter-of-fact Ganguly said, “It has. I will because I don’t play for India anymore. International cricket is different and first-class cricket is different.”

“It is good at this stage of my career; it’s good for the team. As long as the team wins, I am happy. I don’t have to play for India anymore, so it doesn’t matter,” he added.

Appreciating Jesse Ryder – who has been performing consistently so far and who helped the Warriors to a comfortable position with his 86-run knock today – the captain said, “He has been brilliant at the top of the order for us, and I hope he continues.”

On his team’s performance – which has helped them to the No.3 spot in IPL 2012 at the moment and has also seen them lead the standings at an earlier stage in the tournament – he said, “We have been playing well, but [there is] still a long way to go in the tournament. So [it’s] still early days. “

The Warriors and Daredevils will clash again, but this time in Pune. So does the win in Delhi give PWI an edge over DD? Ganguly said, “It’s a new day and they are a top side, so we just have to keep playing.”