ESPN STAR Sports has signed ace cricketer and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly as an expert analyst for the ICC World T20. This is the first time that Ganguly will be seen in the role of a TV analyst and heralds the start of a new innings behind the microphone post his retirement from all forms of international cricket.

Gnguly will be part of an ESPN STAR Sports commentary panel including Wasim Akram, Sanjay Manjrekar, Alan Wilkins, Harsha Bhogle, Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Ian Chappell, Simon Doull, Kepler Wessels, Ian Bishop, Ranil Abeynaike and Athar Ali Khan.

STAR Cricket, the 24 hour cricket channel from ESPN STAR Sports, will telecast live all the 27 matches of the tournament scheduled to start from June 05, 2009 in England.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. R C Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd. said "We are delighted to welcome Sourav Ganguly to the ESPN STAR Sports family. Sourav is recognised by the cricket fraternity globally as one of the shrewdest captains in the history of the game - combined with his extraordinary leadership skills his uncanny ability to read match situations gave the national team a defining edge during his tenure.

"His analysis and his understanding of the modern day game will now lend a new dimension to the overall experience in the commentary box. Fans can now look forward to this excitement with Sourav during ICC World Twenty20 presentation on STAR Cricket."

Speaking on the occasion, Sourav Ganguly said, "I am delighted to join ESPN STAR Sports, a channel which is famous for its unmatched quality of sports broadcasting in Asia. I have always been a big fan of this channel since the beginning of my playing career and I distinctly remember my two centuries in England in 1996 which coincidentally were both shown on ESPN STAR Sports.

"Since then I have been interviewed many times over the years by some of the eminent experts on ESPN STAR Sports and now I look forward to interviewing my erstwhile team mates along with them for a change. I am very excited about my new role as the ICC World Twenty20 is the biggest event for an analyst like me and I look forward to the semi-finals and the final where I will be commencing my stint with ESS."

ESPN STAR Sports will do extensive programming in and around the live telecast. All matches will have detailed pre and post match shows titled ‘Cricket Extra'. These shows will be hosted by Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar from the venue itself. In addition, ESS has also initiated an interactive Cricket based quiz, 'Stumped'. This is first time that a live interactive quiz show is being telecast which is in line with a broad strategy of creating more interactivity options with viewers.

The ICC World Twenty20 will be broadcast by ESPN STAR Sports as a part of its eight-year agreement with ICC. The tournament has stirred up tremendous interest for cricket fans all over the globe. The live telecast of the tournament will be seen in more than 218 countries across the globe. The International Cricket Council (ICC) expects that second edition will achieve record breaking viewer ship across the globe.