Sourav Ganguly backs Virat Kohli's decision to prefer Rohit Sharma over Cheteshwar Pujara

Sourav Ganguly

Kolkata, June 14 (IANS) Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Sunday defended Test skipper Virat Kohli's call to play Rohit Sharma ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara in the ongoing one-off Test match against Bangladesh in Fatullah.

"Virat wants to play five bowlers and in that case you have to sacrifice a batsman. Rohit played at number three in the last Test match in Sydney. Going by the form, it is fine," Ganguly said on the sidelines of an event here.

Going into the Test with five bowlers - the pace trio of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma and the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh - Kohli opted for Rohit instead of specialist No.3 Pujara.

With rain robbing much of the action in the Test, Ganguly hoped offie Harbhajan Singh making a comeback after two years, got more opportunities.

"He has taken two wickets in the match, but he hardly got much of an opportunity because of the rain. Hopefully he gets more opportunities and does well," said Ganguly.

Ganguly also said he was looking forward to playing in the new Twenty20 tournament featuring retired international players. Involving a series of exhibition matches, the event is a brainchild of cricket legends Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar.

Ganguly, who has been inducted to the BCCI's newly-constituted cricket advisory panel, refused to comment on the speculation of team director Ravi Shastri becoming the next Indian coach.

"I have no such report, when that happens we all will get to know," he said.

Inaugurating the Shemrock Global Wisdom, a pre-school in the city, Ganguly confessed of having cried on his first day at school.

"It reminds me of my preschool days. Though I don't have much of memory but I remember I cried a lot on my first day at school," said Ganguly.