Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal revealed his respect and admiration towards former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly saying that only he had the vision to make an Indian team for the future.
Sourav Ganguly is one the finest cricketer to have played the game. The southpaw made his Test debut at the Lord’s in 1996 and announced his arrival in style by scoring 131 at Lord's and became only the third player to score a century on Test debut at ‘Home of cricket’.
Ganguly was then later named the Indian captain in 2000 and with his leadership skills, he led the country to great heights in the game of cricket.
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The 48-year-old ushered a new era in Indian cricket, winning matches and series abroad. He led India to the 2002 Natwest Trophy and the Champions Trophy, to go with a runner-up finish at the World Cup 2003.
In a conversation with sports presenter Sawera Pasha, Kamran Akmal admitted that he is a huge fan of Sourav Ganguly and his captaincy as he had the vision to make the Indian team for the future.
He added that the impact of what he achieved during his captaincy is still visible in Indian cricket today.
"Not sure if I'd want to play under an India captain but I would certainly want to play against one. I am a huge fan of Sourav Ganguly and his captaincy. Only he had the vision to make an Indian team for the future. The players he brought – Sehwag, Zaheer, Kaif, Dhoni, Yuvraj – brought India in shape.
“From there, the Indian team is reaping the benefits. See for yourself, it's still progressing. From there, MS Dhoni took over, and now the way Virat Kohli is handling the seat, it's amazing," Kamran Akmal said.
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Kamran Akmal further said that he always wanted to play against the Sourav Ganguly-led Team India which had a star-studded batting line-up with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and MS Dhoni. He added that the approach and the captaincy Sourav Ganguly had has gone a long way.
"My wish was always to play against them and I've enjoyed it too. I used to think that Sehwag has opened, now Dravid has to come, Tendulkar has to come, Laxman will bat and Ganguly himself is there.
“Next in line was Dhoni, who used to average 50 – so what do we even do? But still, we had to fight and learn and win. The approach and the captaincy Sourav had has gone a long way in,” he said.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
