Mumbai: Glad that the Sahara Group and the BCCI have reached a compromise that paved the way for the participation of Pune Warriors in this year`s IPL, the franchise team`s mentor Sourav Ganguly wants his teammates to take inspiration from Mumbai Indians` performance in previous season`s Champions League Twenty20.
"Good thing ... There are so many players. I always felt that it would be solved and its a good thing that it has been solved. Now we have to see what players we get and do the best," Ganguly told reporters here.
The BCCI and the aggrieved Sahara Group had yesterday reached a compromise after a series of hectic negotiations over the past few days, paving the way for Pune Warriors` participation in the fifth edition of the IPL. Sahara, which had severed ties with the Board and withdrawn the Team India sponsorship on February 4, will return as sponsor following the truce.
Pune Warriors, who would be at a disadvantage having boycotted the recent IPL players auction, can take inspiration from the Mumbai Indians, who won the Champions League Twenty20 last year despite missing several top players, Ganguly said. "It`s T20 ... we saw Mumbai Indians winning Champions League without seven or eight of their best players. That`s a hope for us. We will give our best (shot)," the former India captain said.
"It`s a challenge to play with whatever side we have. It`s not the Indian team that we can pick for every tour. Once you pick the IPL team, its for two years or three years and we have to do the best we can with them," Ganguly added. The 39-year-old left-handed batsman was of the opinion that the outfit would miss skipper Yuvraj Singh, undergoing chemotherapy treatment in the United States, but said his health was more important.
"We will miss Yuvraj Singh. He is a quality player in this format. But health is more important."
Asked whether he would be leading the side in Yuvraj`s absence, Ganguly said it was for the team owners to decide.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 17, 2012, 19:39