Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar has lauded former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and said that he is his favourite Indian skipper. During his tenure, Sourav Ganguly has led Team India in 146 ODIs and 49 Tests, out of which the team emerged victorious on 76 and 21 occasions respectively.
A major turnaround came in world cricket when team India announced their domination by winning the Natwest Trophy in England back in the year 2002. The Ganguly-led India National Cricket Team beat Nasser Hussain’s England in the final in a nail-biting encounter.
Now, Shoaib Akhtar has also acknowledged Ganguly’s domination and said that Ganguly is his all-time favourite Indian skipper.
Shoaib Akhtar Heaps Praise On Sourav Ganguly
“If we see from India, my favourite captain is Sourav Ganguly. There’s no better captain than him from India. MS Dhoni was superb as a captain as well. During the 1990s, I never saw India as a winning team whenever they played against us,” Akhtar made the revelation on Helo app.
Akhtar went on to play under Ganguly at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the inaugural IPL season in 2008. The fastest-bowler in the world has heaped praises on the Bengali people, and especially Dada, for his courage and leadership abilities.
Ganguly Was The Bravest Batsman I Faced In My Career: Shoaib Akhtar
“But, when Sourav became a captain in the 2000s, I thought that the Indian team had the talent to beat Pakistan team and they did it. He brought transformation to the Indian team. Bengali people are courageous, gutsy and they can lead from the forefront, I love Bengali people,” added the 44-year old.
“Many people think that Ganguly was a coward and scared to face me as a bowler. But, according to me, he was the bravest batsman I ever bowled to in my career. He doesn’t have many shots, I tried to hit him on the chest many times, but he still came as an opener and faced me like a brave guy and scored runs. He was a courageous captain for Team India,” concluded Akhtar.