Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has said that the Indian cricket team became tough under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. Hussain was being interviewed by Harsha Bhogle when he said this on Cricbuzz.
The former England opening batsman, who led England to wins against tough oppositions like Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the subcontinent, was reflecting on how to manage the star players of the modern era, the captains who have made the difference in the game, how Ganguly helped in the development of the Indian Cricket Team to become "tough" and much more during the interview session.
Hussain said, "Before Sourav, India was a nice team, great players, Azhar, Javagal Srinath, they had some fantastic players, but before Sourav, they were a nice team. Very sort of 'good morning, how you doing', you know a bit like you Harsha to be honest (light-hearted tone), very nice (and) pleasant. Ganguly made them a tough team. Waiting for the toss for Ganguly, it is half past 10, 10.31 in England, 'where is Ganguly'? Steve Waugh, me, everyone (light-hearted tone)."
Speaking further on captaincy, Hussain heaped praised on current Indian captain Virat Kohli. He said, "It depends on the character, Virat (Kohli) is such an imposing character, all encompassing, it would be difficult for him to hand over, he wouldn't want to hand anything over."
Speaking about his favourite batsmen, the former right-handed batsman added, "I mean there are a lot, (among Indians) two of them are very obvious. Virat Kohlli, if there is a run chase on, wherever I'm in the world, I would be broadcasting somewhere else, West Indies or something, a word would come that India are chasing 300, and I will be looking Kohli 60 not out, Kohli 70 not out and it is almost like setting an alarm clock, Kohli 130, India win."
He concluded, "The other two, KL Rahul is just unbelievable, how easy he makes batting look, at times how far he can hit a ball with sort of minimal effort. And the other one for me is Rohit.
I sent a tweet out when India were in South Africa, I think they left out Rohit, I said, "if Rohit isn't a Test match player, I'm watching a different game of cricket", because Rohit should be able to crack Test match cricket. And the way Rohit has gone recently, long may it continue."
Featured Image Courtesy: My Nation
