Ganguly's African safari delayed by a day

KOLKATA: Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly's departure for South Africa to join the national squad was delayed by a day as his passport could not be reached in Delhi in time for completing visa formalities.

Ganguly, who returned to the Indian Test team after being in the wilderness for 10 months, would now leave for Johannesburg early on Tuesday.

The left hander was originally scheduled to leave for South Africa in the wee hours on Monday.

"He will now leave for South Africa at 2 AM on Tuesday. Ganguly's visa formalities could not be completed as due to the bandh in Bengal last Friday his passport reached Delhi on Friday evening," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.

With Saturday and Sunday being holidays, the earliest Ganguly's visa can be processed is Monday.

"He will be in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning, in time for the four-day warm-up game," he said.