Happy Birthday Dada! With an Eye on FIFA World Cup, Sourav Ganguly to Speak on Cricket
Sourav Ganguly turned 42 on Tuesday. A die-hard football fan, 'Dada' will miss celebrating his birthday with his family this time.
Sourav Ganguly is 'shuttling' between two loves of his life: football and cricket. On Monday, 'Dada', as he is fondly called, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, better known as 'Didi', officially launched the team brand logo and jersey of Atletico de Kolkata. Ganguly is a co-owner of the Indian Super League team that has a tie-up with the premier Madrid-based La Liga giants.
On Tuesday, Ganguly turned 42. Soon after sharing the dais with the West Bengal Chief Minister, Ganguly was dashing off to Delhi to catch a connecting flight to London. He is on the high-profile STAR Sports commentary team for the India-England series. The first Test of the five Tests starts in Nottingham on Wednesday.
A family man to the core, Ganguly will miss spending his birthday with daughter Sana and wife, Dona. His media assignments have always kept him busy and Ganguly's love for football - he is an East Bengal fan -- is well documented. "That's the way it is, can't help," Ganguly said when asked on missing his birthday celebrations in Kolkata.
One of the best critics of the game, Ganguly feels India and England are well matched this time and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's young team has a great chance to avenge the 4-0 thrashing when India toured England in 2011.
Ganguly will have his mind on the FIFA World Cup, too. Like any Kolkattan, Ganguly remains a supporter of Latin American giants Brazil and Argentina. But he is predicting a Germany-Netherlands final on July 13.
"Obviously as a football fan I would love to see a Brazil-Argentina final, but going by the form it looks to be Germany versus the Netherlands," said Ganguly.