Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has agreed to give a plot of land in south Kolkata to Indian captain Sourav Ganguly to set up a cricket academy.
Ganguly, himself a resident of south Kolkata, called on Kumar at his Rail Bhavan office for about 10 minutes last evening. He was accompanied by Trinamul Congress MP Sudeep Bandopadhyay.
A memorandum of understanding will be signed between Ganguly's academy and the Eastern Railway in Kolkata next week after which the plot of land will be handed over to the cricketer on lease.
Ganguly told reporters the academy would become operational within three months of the land being handed over to him.
Talking about the forthcoming tour of Pakistan, the skipper admitted that security concerns continue to bother him and his team. But he said, "We are going to Pakistan to play cricket and our main concern would be playing good cricket. The Pakistan government has assured us about our security and we will stick to that."
Asked how he would rate the contest between Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar, Ganguly said he is not focussing on any individual. "Cricket is a team game and I would like the entire team to click," he said.
