Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday (May 14) played down the talks of Virat Kohli’s failure as a captain for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the recently held Indian Premier League. As per Ganguly, Kohli's IPL captaincy won’t have an impact in the World Cup since he boasts a stellar record while leading India across all three formats.
RCB had an underwhelming campaign in IPL 2019. The Virat Kohli-led side finished the league stage as the bottom-placed team in the points table. RCB lost their first seven games in a row before making a late resurgence in the tournament. However, 5 wins from 14 games were not enough for the Bangalore-based franchise to make it to the play-offs.
"Don't compare Virat Kohli's IPL captaincy record with that of India. His captaincy records for India is very good actually,” Ganguly told PTI.
He also reckons that the biggest advantage for Kohli while captaining the country will be the support of two very successful leaders — MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.
"He's got Rohit in his team as the vice-captain. Dhoni is there. So he's well supported," the ex-captain added.
Ganguly feels Hardik Pandya, who was instrumental in Mumbai Indians' IPL 2019 triumph, will play a key role in India's World Cup campaign.
"Hardik Pandya will play a key role. He is in tremendous form. He will be very, very important for India's chances."
He picked Pakistan alongside India, Australia, and England as the four semi-finalists for the mega event, starting May 30 in UK.
England has been a 'lucky' venue for Pakistan, who had won the 2017 Champions Trophy beating India and had also bagged their maiden World Twenty20 title in 2009.
"Pakistan's record in world tournaments in England is remarkable. They won the Champions Trophy two years ago, they won the 2009 World T20 in England."
He also cited the recent example of Pakistan's second ODI against England, in which they almost chased down a mammoth 374 before going down by only 12 runs.
"Pakistan always play well in England. You see the last game in England. England got 374 and Pakistan just lost by 12 runs. They also beat England in England in Test matches there because of their bowling line-up."
Ganguly, however, was quick to add that the Men in Blue should not be wary of the arch-rivals.
"I don't believe in records. Both of them will have to play well on that particular day. India will be a very good side. They will be very hard to beat. The team which has the likes of Kohli, Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan can't be weak."
Asked to compare this side with that of his team of 2003 World Cup, Ganguly said, "Both the teams are of different generations. We played the final in 2003. I hope they play the final and win it. Indian cricket is so strong. And we have been strong for the last 25-30 years. Every world competition that we play, we will have a chance. This team has as much chance as we had in 2003."
(With PTI inputs)
