Had difficulty recognising ATK team in 2nd leg of ISL semis: Ganguly

With Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) manager Jose Molina making several changes to the team for the second leg of their Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final against Mumbai City FC, Sourav Ganguly, co-owner of the franchise, said he had difficulty recognising the team.

Molina made as many as nine changes to the team that beat Mumbai 3-2 at home before holding the first-time semi-finalists to a goalless draw to book a final berth with a 3-2 aggregate win.

Molina had said after the first leg that his side has no specific "first XI" and that every member of the squad is equally adept to take the field on a given day.

Ganguly, on the sidelines of a programme at a city hotel, admitted that he took a while to get a hang of things but added that as long as it works for the team it is good.

"I took 15 minutes to figure out who is playing," Ganguly, who was in the stands along with Sanjiv Goenka on Tuesday in Mumbai, told reporters here on Wednesday.

"As long as the team is winning it is fine. I am not a technical person and I would not like to comment on the wholesale changes made to the team," the former India cricket captain said.

ATK have made the final twice in three years, having reached the play-offs every time. Ganguly lauded the team's consistency.

"We have reached the final two times in three seasons. This speaks volumes of the team's consistency," he said.

Canadian striker Iain Hume, who has so far netted seven goals, has impressed Ganguly the most.

"He has been outstanding. He has played like a star for us. Of course, (Helder) Postiga, Borja (Fernandez) have also contributed to the side's success. Among the India players, Debjit (Mazumder) and Prabir (Das) have impressed me," Ganguly said.

--IANS

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