India has a strong spin attack, my favourite team in T20 WC: Ganguly

Cape Town, Jan 10 (PTI) Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Saturday placed his faith on the country's spinners, particularly on Varun Chakravarthy, to play a key role in a successful title defence at the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Hosts India has selected a strong spin attack, comprising Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar for the ICC marquee event which will begin on February 7.

"Yeah, nothing (home WC) gets bigger than that, and India is always my favourite team. They have a strong spin attack and if Chakravarthy is fit then it's good for India,” Ganguly, who coaches Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, said in an interaction with a select media gathering here.

The 53-year-old, who has accepted the head coach role for the first time in his career, said he was looking to learn on the job further.

"First time ever in my life, head coach. But I am enjoying it. Actually, I am very close to (Delhi Capitals co-owner) Parth (Jindal), so he asked me to do this, so I did it.

"I am also learning. I may have played any amount of matches, captained any amount of matches, but this is different. I am coaching and I am doing this to learn and understand," said Ganguly, who also works as the Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

The Pretoria Capitals defeated Paarl Royals at Boland Park here on Saturday by 21 runs to leap to third position on the table.

It was their second win on the trot, and Ganguly was understandably delighted.

"When you play any big tournament, whether it's a World Cup, IPL or SA20, the back-end gets very tight and competitive and that's where you need to be at your best. It's a very important point.

"You know these sort of wins when you defend one side, it actually gives you a lot of confidence. Hopefully we will continue to do that. But in sport, every day is a new day. So we'll pick ourselves up and start fresh the day after tomorrow," he detailed.

Ganguly was also chuffed to start his coaching career in South Africa, a country where he has some fond memories as a player.

"This has been a great place for us. I have come so many times here, the World Cup finals, in 2003. We lost, but we were exceptional in the tournament. South Africa is a place for cricket. You can see how good the tournament is.

"The stands are full, even on a weekday, people come and watch. Whether it's Cape Town, whether it's Pretoria, whether it's Paarl because it's a cricketing country, it's been a great tournament,” he said. PTI UNG APA APA