Sourav Ganguly's leadership skills and cricketing knowledge will help India, feels Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar had played under Sourav Ganguly in the inaugural audition of the IPL for Kolkata knight Riders and he claims that Ganguly is the greatest Indian captain of all time. Akhtar believes that there was a time where Pakistan used to dominate India, but post-1997, when Ganguly took the reigns of the captaincy amidst difficult circumstances, he brought positivity to the team and changed the way the Indians played the game.

"One person that transformed Indian cricket was Sourav Ganguly, never felt before 97-98 that India could beat Pakistan. I never felt India had the system to beat Pakistan until Sourav Ganguly became the captain. Sourav Ganguly changed the mentality of Indian cricket. He had an eye to pick a talent to play for India," Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Akhtar further says that Dada was an honest leader and that he had the eye to pick match winners. Players like Sehwag, Harbhajan and Yuvraj would have never reached the heights they did had Ganguly not backed them after having recognized their potential.

"Sourav Ganguly is a great leader, he is honest person when it comes to picking up talent. He is a brilliant cricketing knowledge," he said.

Shoaib believes that this combination of Ganguly and Kohli can take Indian cricket to newer heights. Ganguly will play a key part in India's preparation for the 2020 T20 World Cup, having the President post only for ten months. The new committee will come into force from October 23.