Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Saturday backed India’s spin attack to be a key factor at the upcoming home T20 World Cup, saying Varun Chakravarthy’s fitness could play an important role in the host team’s title defence when the tournament begins on February 7.India have named a spin-heavy bowling group for the next month’s T20 World Cup, including Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Ganguly said the spin options give India an edge in home conditions.
“Yeah, nothing (home WC) gets bigger than that, and India is always my favourite team. They have a strong spin attack and if Chakravarthy is fit then it’s good for India,” Ganguly said while speaking to media persons in Cape Town.Ganguly, who is currently coaching Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, also spoke about taking up a head coach role for the first time in his career. He said the experience has been different from his playing days and has helped him learn new aspects of the game.“First time ever in my life, head coach. But I am enjoying it. Actually, I am very close to (Delhi Capitals co-owner) Parth (Jindal), so he asked me to do this, so I did it. I am also learning. I may have played any amount of matches, captained any amount of matches, but this (coaching) is different. I am coaching and I am doing this to learn and understand,” said Ganguly, who also serves as the Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals in the IPL.Earlier in the day, Pretoria Capitals defeated Paarl Royals by 21 runs at Boland Park to move up to third place in the points table. It was their second consecutive win in the tournament.“When you play any big tournament, whether it’s a World Cup, IPL or SA20, the back-end gets very tight and competitive and that’s where you need to be at your best. It’s a very important point. You know these sort of wins when you defend one side, it actually gives you a lot of confidence. Hopefully we will continue to do that. But in sport, every day is a new day. So we’ll pick ourselves up and start fresh the day after tomorrow,” he said.Ganguly also said he was happy to begin his coaching journey in South Africa, a country where he has played several important matches.“This has been a great place for us. I have come so many times here, the World Cup finals, in 2003. We lost, but we were exceptional in the tournament. South Africa is a place for cricket. You can see how good the tournament is.“The stands are full, even on a weekday, people come and watch. Whether it’s Cape Town, whether it’s Pretoria, whether it’s Paarl because it’s a cricketing country, it’s been a great tournament,” he said.
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