India haven’t produced a better captain than Sourav Ganguly, opines Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, during his time, played against some of the best captains that the sport has seen. But Akhtar, while not going into comparisons, named his favourite opposition captain and it’s none other than BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. The Pakistan veteran, however, maintained that MS Dhoni was a very good leader but clarified that the art of building a team set Ganguly apart.

“If I talk about India, then it will be Sourav Ganguly. India haven’t produced a better captain than him. Dhoni is very good, he’s a superb captain but when you talk about team building then Ganguly did a great job,” said Akhtar in an interview in Helo app.

The Pakistan cricket team had toured India in December 2012-January 2013 and that was the last bilateral series between the two teams. Since then, the two old rival teams have only met in ICC and ACC events. That has helped Pakistan sustain their ODI dominance record over Team India. In 132 ODI games, Pakistan has defeated India 73 times and hence Shoaib Akhtar recalled the nineties and early 2000s when he thought India couldn’t beat them. However, it was Sourav Ganguly’s leadership that was really challenging, according to Akhtar and Pakistan finally felt the pressure playing against India. India, under Ganguly, had defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the Tests and 3-2 in the ODIs in 2004.

“I never thought India could beat us outside of a World Cup game. I toured India in 1999, we won in Chennai, we lost in Delhi but we won in Kolkata again, we ODIs, we won in Sharjah. When India came in Pakistan in 2004 under Ganguly’s leadership I got a feeling that this team can beat Pakistan and they did that,” added Akhtar.

As a matter of fact, Akhtar himself played under Ganguly’s captaincy in the 2008 edition of the IPL playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. 

“The bravery and capability you can understand through this. He brought that transformation into the Indian side. I’m a huge fan of Bengalis, they are, strong, courageous and they are the ones who fight at the forefront,” said Akhtar.