| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is the man best suited to lead the Kolkata Knight Riders in the third edition of the Indian Premier League next year, feel KKR foreign players.
The Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise, which finished at the bottom of the points table in the second season of the lucrative tournament in South Africa this year, is yet to name a captain after Kiwi Brendon McCullum stepped down from the job.
South African batsman Morne van Wyk and Australian Brad Hodge believes with loads of experience behind his back, the veteran Bengal left-hander is the best man for the job.
"I will be happy to play under Ganguly in the next IPL. He should become the KKR captain because he is quite a knowledgeable cricketer. From personal front, I had never played under him and would be happy to do that," said van Wyk, who had an impressive IPL debut for Knight Riders this year, scoring 167 runs from five outings.
Hodge, who was Knight Riders top run-getters in IPL season II with 365 runs from 12 matches, opined with the South African and feels Ganguly's knowledge about Indian conditions and players will hold him in good stead for the top job.
"Ganguly would be a good choice for the post of skipper. He is well informed about conditions and pitches in India and knows a number of local players very well," said Hodge, who is here to play for Victoria Bushrangers in the inaugural Champions League T20 tournament.
Interestingly, both van Wyk and Hodge sounded excitement about the possibility of engaging former Pakistan great Wasim Akram as the bowling consultant of Knight Riders.
"Appointing Akram would surely be a good move as he is one of the best bowlers in the world," Hodge said.
"If he joins KKR, I expect Ganguly and Akram would drive the team in the right direction next year but the final decision rests on KKR management," added van Wyk.
Hodge, meanwhile, wants to leave behind the last two editions' failure and hopes the team will be a force to reckon with next year.
"We lost too many matches in the initial stage in South Africa, some of them were very close. The idea of giving McCullum captaincy also did not click. But I am confident of the team's good showing next year," said the right-handed batsman.
