Dada's innings sparks war of words online

A run-a-ball debut for Sourav Ganguly in his opening match for the Pune Warriors on Tuesday has set the web abuzz with fans and critics of Dada rekindling their rivalries with their 'respective' views on the innings against the Deccan Chargers. (Also Read: Yuvraj leading Dada and other twists)

While the target of 137 was never going to test the Pune Warriors who had Mitchell Marsh wreck havoc in the Deccan batting lineup, that Ganguly came in at number three and helped himself to useful runs has had his fans gleaming on social networking sites. "Dada, you make me proud to be your fan. Its a start that m sure you will build on," posted a college student on a fan-page on Facebook.  Another wrote: "a legend roars, befitting reply to SRK for his misadventure."

The innings though has had many question the ability of Ganguly to score at a fast pace. "What if the target was 170 or more. Look at his strike rate. Manish Pandey and Ryder were better," was a comment on the NDTV page on the networking site. A flurry of arguments and counter arguments has since erupted with some saying a slow strike rate is why the Knight Riders dropped him while most others claiming that it was a good enough knock considering Ganguly had come after a 5-month phase of no cricket.

Whether Ganguly can improve his strike-rate to match the IPL  standards or whether Pune Warriors bowl for him to need to do so, remains to be seen as the matches unfold. Pune take on the Deccan Chargers again on Monday followed by the match against Ganguly's former side on May 19.