Ganguly's exclusion not purely on cricketing basis: Kapil Dev

In what turned out to be one of the major embarrassments in his chequered career, India's most successful cricket captain Ganguly was left red-faced as none of the 10 franchises put his name up in the wish list after both rounds of auctions that concluded in Bangalore yesterday.

"Lot of other reasons are there. I don't think merely on cricketing basis, he is not there. It's not on purely cricketing basis (his exclusion)," said Kapil.

"I always felt that Ganguly should be the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders otherwise he shouls not be playing. Because of his nature, commitment, determination and the way he works with the team or what he did to the Indian team, this all makes a lot of difference," the 1983 World cup winning captain Kapil told the 'Headlines Today' news channel.

There was every reason that the fourth highest scorer in last year's league felt insulted as he had prolonged his cricketing career only to play in the IPL. With franchises turning their backs on him, it was certainly one of the most ignominious ends for the Prince of Kolkata.And Kapil said without Ganguly, KKR will lose its fan following.

"Without Sourav, KKR is nothing. A lot of time confusion was there whether he should be playing as a player or leading the side as the captain. If I was there, I had said lead the side to best of your abilities otherwise just say goodbye to cricket.

"Franchises thought we have given him chance for three years, it's time to say him goodbye. But I think lot of other reasons are there," said Kapil.

In Durban, Kolkata Knight Riders' co-owner and Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan today said he would try and find a role for Ganguly, who led the KKR in the last edition.

"I would love it, I would love Sourav to be an integral part. You don't have a team in Kolkata without him. So, I will speak to Dada when I get back," Shah Rukh said.