IPL 2014: Robin Uthappa and Umesh Yadav's good form is good news for Team India, says Sourav Ganguly

Kolkata Knight Riders

Former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly expressed his happiness over performances of KKR's young guns such as Robin Uthappa and Umesh Yadav - both of whom have been playing a useful role for their team in the ongoing IPL.

The former Indian captain admitted that he is impressed by the brilliant batting display of Robin Uthappa, who is the curent Orange Cap holder in IPL 2014.

Emphasizing on the significance of an opener's role in a team, Ganguly said: "IPL history suggests that teams who have done well, have had a top order batsman scoring lots of runs and Robin has played the role perfectly. If one looks at the years gone by it has been Chris Gayle, Mike Hussey, Sachin Tendulkar and Adam Gilchrist who have done that at the top and have contributed to their teams' success."

Ganguly, 41, is of the belief that it is a good sign to see the right arm medium fast bowler Umesh Yadav back in form ahead of India's tour to Australia and England.

"It will be heartening for the selectors and the Indian team since a fit Umesh is very important to the side. India are soon touring England and Australia later this year and his pace will be very important to the team. The Indian bowling attack needs that push and hopefully he can provide that," Ganguly said.

Apart from Uthappa and Yadav, Ganguly was all praise for Bangladeshi all rounder, Shakib Al Hassan.

"Shakib Al Hasan has been amazing with the bat and ball and his batting form against CSK was superb. He hit the ball cleanly, and it will be a confidence booster to the middle order which had looked brittle at the start of the season," the left-hand batsman concluded.