Sourav Ganguly Was One Of My Toughest Opposition: Shoaib Akhtar
Published - 10 Aug 2020, 09:27 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 10:19 AM
Sourav Ganguly, former Indian captain and the current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, is widely credited for thrusting ruthless aggression in the Indian side during his stint as captain.
Ganguly took over the reign of Team India at a time when Indian cricket was in shambles thanks to the match-fixing scandal. Ganguly, along with other senior cricketers, went about building the team for the future by unleashing and backing prodigious talents like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, and MS Dhoni.
With the right amalgamation of youth and experience, Ganguly went on to transform India into a feisty unit, one that was not only contended with winning at home but also on scaling foreign territories.
Ganguly is often hailed for scripting a whirlwind revolution in Indian cricket and as one of the toughest opposition cricketers by players of that era. The latest to join the bandwagon is former tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
“One of my toughest opposition(s) was the man himself @souravganguly. Not only a tough opposition but a great captain having played under his leadership for @kkriders,” Shoaib Akhtar wrote on his Instagram post.
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Shoaib Akhtar played under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly at KKR
Shoaib Akhtar has seen Sourav Ganguly from close quarters. Apart from witnessing how Ganguly led India to ODI and Test series win against Pakistan during the 2004 tour, the Rawalpindi Express was a part of the bowling attack that got hammered to the tune of 239 in Bangalore in 2007- Ganguly’s maiden Test double-hundred.
Akhtar has also played under the leadership of Ganguly for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League.
The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ has always been a fan of how Ganguly went about his business as captain and had even said “I never imagined India could beat Pakistan” until Sourav Ganguly became the Indian captain.” when Ganguly was appointed as the president of BCCI.
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