Sourav Ganguly didn't allow me to be traded from Pune Warriors to Chennai Super Kings: Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik was a spinner who might have played a lot more international cricket, had he been in some other era. He made his international debut in 2000 but he could only manage to play eight Tests and 37 ODIs. He played most of his international cricket under Sourav Ganguly.

However, one can say that the current BCCI president had a liking for Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, as he played them more than someone like Kartik while he was the captain of the side. There are ideas that Ganguly, who was an excellent player of left-arm spin, didn’t play Kartik in the Indian side because he himself found his bowling easy to play. In a recent interview, Kartik addressed this issue and busted the myth.

Dada made me play against CSK with 104 degrees: Murali Kartik

“If Ganguly played left-arm spinners well, why would I be at KKR for three years?”, Kartik said during an interview with Sportskeeda. Murali had been with Kolkata Knight Riders for the first three seasons. During the first few years of the IPL, Ganguly had led the KKR team in two seasons and also backed Kartik as his leading spinner.

After this, Ganguly was signed by the now-defunct Pune Warriors India in 2011. He was made the captain the next season in 2012. The left-arm spinner recalled an incident before that IPL. He revealed that Pune was offered by the Chennai Super Kings to trade Murali but it was Ganguly who didn’t allow that to happen. Later on, Ravindra Jadeja was signed in by CSK and he still continues to be a part of the franchise.

“And also, when we came to Pune Warriors, he did not allow me to go to Chennai Super Kings. The year when Ravindra Jadeja went in the transfer window, they asked me, they asked the officials of Pune Warriors, but Dada said ‘No, I won’t allow you’,” Kartik said in a live chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda.

Furthermore, Kartik recalled an incident when the Prince of Kolkata was leading the Pune. He revealed that being the captain, he backed Kartik to play even with a high fever.

“Dada has made me play against CSK at Pune with 104 degrees. He was insistent that I play, and I hope there is footage of that game where I am playing with a full-sleeves sweater because I was feverish. I’ve played with a fever. So, that is the case. People falsely say these things,” he concluded.