Ganguly impressed by Kaif, SS Das

Saurav Ganguly has been hearing reports that former Indian skipper Md Azharuddin may be called back to the Indian team. But does that mean that he will once more have to bat at No 6?

Ganguly, however, does not think so. The left-hander made it quite clear that he would like to bat at No 5 in the ensuing Test series against South Africa. "I would prefer to bat at No 5," said Ganguly at the end of the practise session at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. "In fact, I have decided to inform skipper Sachin Tendulkar of my preference," said India's vice captain.

Ganguly has recovered sufficiently from his hamstring injury to take part in short sprints as he showed at the Gardens today. For the last two weeks he had been busy attending various social functions and obligations. Amongst them have been programmes like the inauguration of blood donation camps, holding talk shows amongst students and so on. However, he has also watched some of the matches of the Challenger Trophy at Ahmedabad. "Two cricketers have impressed me. They are Mohammed Kaif and Shibsundar Das. I will not be surprised if they find a place in the 14 for the Test squad. They have availed of the opportunities that they have got," said Ganguly.

Ganguly also disclosed that the India coach Kapil Dev had called him up a couple of times during the last couple of weeks. "He wanted to know the progress of my injury and he encouraged me quite a lot," said Ganguly. And even though at the moment, his first priority is the Ranji Trophy match against Delhi, Ganguly has set his goals set for the series against South Africa.