Former England cricketer-turned-commentator David Lloyd on Wednesday (July 22) hailed Sourav Ganguly's contribution in the transformation of Indian cricket in the last two decades.
See Also: Parthiv Patel says Sourav Ganguly had more impact than MS Dhoni on Indian cricket
Under Ganguly's firm leadership, Indian cricket reached new heights over a period of five years (2000-2005).
From qualifying to the finals of 2003 World Cup, sharing the 2002 Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, winning the 2004 Test series in Pakistan and drawing Test series in England and Australia – Team India achieved it all and a lot more with him at the helm of affairs.
“I’m a massive fan of Ganguly by the way. I think Sourav Ganguly gave the team a real steel that we will not be dictated by quick bowlers because we’re going to find some of our own players,” Lloyd said in a chat show on Sony Ten’s Pit Stop.
“It was always a suggestion that India, away from home, don’t like the bouncing ball. Ganguly went to Australia fully prepared for the bouncing ball.
“Of course, India in India, it is unbelievably difficult. But you always felt that India away from home that you’ve got every chance. Ganguly was the catalyst. Ganguly, and there was the duo of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar,” the 73-year-old added.
Ganguly is widely deemed as one of the most successful Indian Test captains, winning 21 out of 49 matches with 11 of them coming away from home.
“…Now if you’re bringing a quality spinner and you’ve got a couple of pacemen, you’re in business, not only in India, you’re in business worldwide. And I think Ganguly has been a massive influence on Indian cricket. I think he’s been the catalyst for Indian cricket to be a worldwide force,” Lloyd said.
In the current times, the former England opener thinks Virat Kohli has taken the team to another level. He also praised the current Indian captain for this prolific run-scoring.
“Apart from his (Kohli) greatness as a player he is a great leader. He’s a fighter and he fears nothing. That is so important. He fears nothing.”
“I think my own view about Kohli is that he is there to win matches. He’s not there to accumulate runs for himself, he is there to win matches and ‘I will lead by example because I’m the best’,” Lloyd remarked.
Under Kohli, Team India have appeared in 89 ODIs and won 62 of them. He has also led India to 55 matches in the longest format of the game and 37 matches in T20Is, guiding the side to 33 and 22 wins, respectively.
