Former Pakistan Cricketer Mohammad Hafeez feels India’s domination in world cricket is laid by the former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and the legacy is continued by MS Dhoni. Hafeez further hailed MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli for playing an aggressive brand of cricket.
Mohammad Hafeez, speaking to Hindustan Times on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket in Doha, spoke about the rise of Indian cricket, the famous rivalry against India, and the motive behind playing the legends league.
Hafeez, who made his debut in 2003, has seen the rise of India under many captains, but he feels Sourav Ganguly laid the foundation for the brand of cricket India playing.
“The foundation was laid in the Ganguly era, and that is when that mindset was developed that they can beat the world. In Pakistan, to be very honest, that feeling was there in the past. We did have a team who could go to any place in the world, look into the eyes of the opponent and play aggressive cricket. In India, that feeling came only in the Ganguly era.
“A finer version of it was seen during Dhoni’s captaincy and that continued through the years making India one of the most favourite teams in any series or tournament.”
It was during Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy many stars like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, and MS Dhoni emerged who in turn played a vital role in India’s dominance in world cricket. Ganguly is known for his aggressive brand of captaincy and found reasonable success for India in his captaincy.
We Spent A Lot Of Good Times Together – Mohammad Hafeez On Playing Legends League Cricket
On playing in the legends league, Hafeez said he was happy to meet some of his good friends against whom he played during his playing citing Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir with whom he engaged in some healthy competition during his playing days and also added more than winning or losing in the tournament it is more about enjoying the opportunity to meet everyone.
“I was really happy to watch and meet again some of my best friends, against whom we have played some great cricket – Harbhajan Singh, and Gautam Gambhir – we spent a lot of good times together. LLC provided me with the opportunity to meet them again. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses on the ground, what matters is the legacy of the tournament,” he stated.
India Maharajas will be up against Asian Lions in the eliminator of the Legends League Cricket 2023 on March 18, the winner of the eliminator will take on World Giants in the finals on Sunday in Doha