Mohammad Azharuddin Developed Sourav Ganguly As Captain: Rashid Latif

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif feels Mohammad Azharuddin should be credited for shaping up Sourav Ganguly as a captain. Azharuddin donned many hats for the national team and among them was an invisible one of mentoring young talents. It is something which helped produce some of the finest cricketers in the country.

Latif said that he has a lot of respect for Azharuddin. He also added that the former India captain played a great role to develop Ganguly as a captain. Under the captaincy of Ganguly, greats like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar played.

“I respect Mohammad Azharuddin a lot. He served Indian cricket for a long time and left someone like Sourav Ganguly. Azharuddin played a great role in developing Ganguly as a captain. Greats like Sachin and Dravid played under Ganguly,” Latif said in a YouTube show called Caught Behind.

Sourav Ganguly will always be known for re-branding the style of cricket India played. He took over the captaincy reigns in a controversial situation and helped the national team grow with his ‘never say die spirit’.

As established batsman in the top-order, Ganguly will be celebrated for his captaincy skills which overshadowed his batting prowess. He knew how to back players, give them direction and pick up young talents and place them at the right position. Ganguly was not only the pioneer for the aggressive brand of cricket in India but also for shaping careers of a lot of Indian cricketers.

The southpaw retired with a brilliant average in Tests and ODIs. He scored 7212 runs in the longest format at an average of 42.17 and also notched up 11363 runs in the ODIs at an average of 41.02. Ganguly scored over 100 half-centuries in his successful international career.