'Allegations against Kapil will add more pressure': Ganguly

The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly held the Lancashire innings together scoring a patient 73 (164 balls) on Thursday at Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street in the PPP Healthcare County Championship Division- One match against Durham. Soon after he expressed his views on concurrent issues in a candid interview to an Indian cricket website from Manchester. The southpaw felt that the allegations made by the former BCCI chief IS Bindra against the present team coach Kapil Dev would certainly add more pressure on the team during the Asia Cup in Dhaka which starts on May 28.

Ganguly said ``Maybe yes. At least mentally it'll be tougher. In any international match, there is always this intense pressure of performing according to the country's expectation. Now, this thing will add more pressure.'' Ganguly has now echoed his coach Kapil Dev, who believes that the pressure generated in the wake of the ongoing scandal would affect the players' performance.

Talking at length about the ongoing scandal, the stylish left hander said ``If you've any proof, that's fine. Go to the concerned authority and show your evidence. Why they are going to the media without any proof to support their allegations? This trend should be stopped immediately.''

The "Prince of Calcutta" echoed the views of his team coach when he said ``I know every member of the national side is thinking on the same lines. And to assist us, let there be a full stop to these immature comments and baseless allegations. These not only affect the alleged cricketer, but also the national team. It's bad for the credibility of the game too.''

After the sensational allegations levelled against the former Indian allrounder by the former Board President, Kapil has indicated that he would decide on the future course of action only after meeting the players at Pune during the preparatory camp.

Turning his attention to the selection of the probables for the Asia Cup, Ganguly expressed surprise over the omission of pacer BKV Prasad. He said ``Yes, but I was a little surprised with the omission of Venkatesh Prasad.'' and added ``he bowled well in Sharjah during trination tournament in March too.''

The preparatory camp for the forthcoming Asia Cup in Dhaka commences on May 14 and Ganguly is expected to report to the camp on May 22 two days before the team for the Asia Cup is selected.