Ganguly would have done better in Tests had he batted higher, says Dilip Vengsarkar

Ganguly retired with 16 hundreds to his name in Tests.

Ganguly retired with 7212 runs in Test cricket | Getty Images

Former Indian captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is regarded as one of the greatest captains to have led the country besides being considered as one of the best batsmen to ever graced to the game of cricket.

In his illustrious career between 1992-2008, the former southpaw played several match-winning knocks across the two formats of the game, but it was his batting ability in Test cricket always got underestimated by his ODIs records despite averaging batter than the 50-over format.

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He is still India’s third-highest run-getter as well as century scorer in ODI cricket only behind Sachin Tendulkar and current captain Virat Kohli with 11363 runs and 22 hundred in 311 ODIs.

In the longest format of the game, Ganguly started off his Test career batting at No.3 with a ton at Lord’s but had to settle down at No.5 to make way for Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid and went on to score 7212 runs in 113 Tests at 42.18, which is higher than his ODI average 40.73.

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Recently, former India captain and former chief selector Dilip Vengesarkar said Ganguly would have done better in Test cricket if he batted higher up the order.

Vengsarkar told the Times of India: “I always believed he would have done better in Test cricket had he batted higher in the order. His innings at Brisbane was a class act.”

Hailing his leadership skills, Vengsarkar further claimed that Ganguly was a terrific player of spin bowling.

He signed off by saying, “A terrific player against spinners, he relished playing shots on the offside. A very good student of the game and good at man-management, he led India with great success,”

(With TOI Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 20 May, 2020

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