“We didn’t push Sourav.… Actually, you don’t push Sourav Ganguly…. What was made known is that we wanted him in the XI,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph.

Devastated after remaining unsold at the auction, Sourav had been more than just keen to, at least, play a role in IPL-IV as a replacement player. Ashish Nehra’s non-availability, after surgery on his right hand, gave him that opening.

The debate over whether somebody of Sourav’s stature should play as a replacement is bound to continue. However, as Sunil Gavaskar said: “He’s justified the franchise’s faith in signing him.”

Eventually, though, Sourav is going to be judged on how he performs against the Knights, in Navi Mumbai, on May 19. That will be the blockbuster match of IPL-IV.