Being paid to watch the girls

As a captain Sourav Ganguly was never shy of expressing himself. Now he claims to be fighting for the rights of others to express themselves – namely a group of 24 young female cheerleaders. Ganguly is the judge of ‘Knights and Angels’, a reality show that will whittle down the competition to six lucky ladies who will cheer the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Asked if cheerleaders distracted players, Ganguly rejected the claim adamantly. When one of the journalists checked if his new role wouldn’t embarrass his daughter back home in Kolkata, Ganguly hit back, asking, “What is so bad with dancing?” Even if it isn’t a career choice, Ganguly said the girls were just doing something they liked and he even compared them to gymnasts. “Would you call gymnastics a bad sport then?”

Ganguly said the girls need to be knowledgeable on cricket and understand the match situations better so that they can pump up the energy levels of the crowd and support the team. He did much of that during his captaincy years, though without having to shake a leg.