Cricket : Money is not the reason for Sourav Ganguly's return to cricket !!!!!!

Sourav Ganguly will not be playing for money but to prove he is still "good enough" in this form of cricket, according to a top official of Sahara Pune Warriors.

In a dramatic decision which was the talking point in Indian cricketing circles on Tuesday, the IPL debutants announced that they were signing up the former Indian captain who went unsold in the last auction.

Director of the Pune franchise, said they had been in touch with the retired international for the last couple of days, but could only confirm him as a replacement for the injured medium pacer Ashish Nehra.

"The fees did not figure prominently in our discussion as he would be paid on a pro-rata basis for the remaining matches," he said.

Ganguly, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons of IPL, told the media in Kolkata: "I was approached by them yesterday [Monday] and I've confirmed about my availability to them. I am leaving for Mumbai and the details will be announced there." Dismissing any speculation about change in captaincy, the Pune official said Ganguly will be purely be in the capacity of a player while Yuvraj Singh and Graeme Smith will continue to be the captain and vice-captain, respectively.

"The decision to play him or not rests completely with the team management. He is joining the side [in Navi Mumbai] and will train with the coach and support staff. I don't think he will be playing in our next match [against Mumbai Indians]," Sarkar said.

The move is, however, seen in some quarters as a desperate move by the IPL debutants, who are languishing at the bottom of the table with six consecutive losses from eight games and are also hamstrung by injuries.

"In the last four matches, we have lost from winning positions. We were also done in by injuries to four key players. Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan all-rounder was ruled out, Australian Twenty20 vice-captain Tim Paine and South African skipper Graeme Smith too are injured while Ashish Nehra too was battling with injury.

"We waited for Nehra's fitness report before getting the BCCI green signal," Sarkar said.

Incidentally, after Ganguly went unsold in the auctions last January, Subrata Roy, the Chairman of Sahara Group, had expressed interest in the possibility of taking him on board even in the capacity of a "mentor" — an idea that did not meet with the approval of the team's Australian coach Geoff Marsh

Cricket : Warne's magic spell turns ordinary players into winners !!!!

Shane Warne's ability to transform ordinary players into top performers came to light again in the Rajasthan Royals match against Kochi Tuskers.

As captain and coach of the Rajasthan team, Warne gave a pep talk to his young players after his team's three defeats. Warne also led from the front to take three wickets and bowl out Kochi for a paltry 109 runs.

"After three dismal losses we sat together and had honest chats among us. We were back at the drawing board and came up good. The losses had hurt us and I am happy we have responded well with intensity," Warne said after his team's eight-wicket win over Kochi.

Warne, who was not considered for Australia's captain, is a fighter to the core.

"We did play disappointing cricket but I am happy with the way the boys have responded in this match. Now that we have beaten Kochi which has beaten top teams like Mumbai and Chennai, we will go a long way," assured Warne.

Rajasthan has two of the finest openers in the game. While opener Shane Watson is considered aggressive his partner, Dravid is more of a defensive player but together they put on 71 runs in 10 overs.

So when reporters asked Warne whether he will consider making this pair the permanent openers, he said: "Playing eleven is always taken according to the strengths of the opponents."

It was also a clear message that no place in the eleven should be taken for granted without performance.

Warne has a very clear agenda and has discussed it with his team. "If we win the remaining four matches we will be among the top four So we need to go for victories in all matches from now on and that has been made clear to the players," he said.

Incidentally, Warne does not believe in the advantages one can get by winning the toss or batting first.

"All we aim for is victories. It is important for everyone to play their roles in the team. Against Kochi our intensity was very good from the first ball. In the end it was a satisfying win," said Warne who at the age of 41, bagged the man of the match award to inspire his team.

Cricket : Rajasthan Royals beat Kochi Tuskers

41-year old Shane Warne (3-16) headed a superb bowling display from the Rajasthan Royals to guide them to a comfortable eight-wicket victory against Kerala Kochi Tuskers with 35 balls to spare.

The Kochi Tuskers, led by Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene, failed to read Warne's flight and spin and, with seamer Siddharth Trivedi also chipping in with three for 19, they were bundled out for a paltry 109.

Rahul Dravid (44) put on 71 runs for the opening wicket with Australian Shane Watson (49) before getting run out as Rajasthan leap-frogged from sixth to second spot with their third victory.

In Hyderabd, Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga took three for nine against Deccan Chargers to help Mumbai Indians consolidate their position at the top of the Indian Premier League on Sunday with their fifth win.

Mumbai, who were asked to bat, were tottering at 70 for four after a brisk opening stand of 47 between Sachin Tendulkar (28) and Davy Jacobs (32).

Rohit Sharma (56 off 34 balls) and former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds (44 off 33) added 102 in an unbroken fifth wicket stand to take their side to 172 for four.

Sharma hit three sixes in the final over as the duo plundered 40 runs in the last two overs of their innings against their former IPL franchise.

Malinga, who announced his retirement from test cricket last week, then got into the act with a succession of swinging yorkers. He also ran out Cameron White with a direct hit to bring about a 37-run win for Mumbai on Tendulkar's 38th birthday.