Venkatesh Prasad Draws Parallels Between Leadership Styles Of Sourav Ganguly And Virat Kohli; Says Ganguly Rarely Showed Emotions

Venkatesh Prasad, the former Indian fast bowler, drew parallels between former captain Sourav Ganguly and current Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Prasad, who played the last leg of his international career under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly, said that there are a lot of similarities in the style of leadership of both the ‘Prince of Kolkata’ and Virat Kohli, but pointed out that he never saw the same aggression in his former skipper that Virat Kohli shows on a cricket field.

Hailing Sourav Ganguly for giving a cutting edge to Indian cricket, Venkatesh Prasad said-

“I think Sourav and Virat are pretty much on similar lines because Sourav also took up captaincy when there were a lot of negative things going around the team. That’s one. Second, Sourav had to really transform the team. I think it required huge leadership skills basically. And that’s what Sourav showed. He had an amazing leadership quality and he set the standard both as captain and player,” Venkatesh Prasad told Times of India.

He added: “Yet there were some shortcomings. When it comes to Sourav’s fitness, or maybe his fielding skills or whatever, but that’s fine. Who doesn’t have shortcomings? But what was important at that stage was a good leader. And that’s what Sourav showed everybody – what a leader can do. He transformed the team.”

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Venkatesh Prasad on the similarities between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly

Prasad reckoned that Virat Kohli comes across as a very passionate guy but asserted that his tactics are well within the limits. He also added that Ganguly never used to show his emotions in the manner that Virat Kohli does.

‘Virat is pretty much on the same lines of Sourav. Sourav never showed his emotions, a couple of times only we have seen Sourav showing his emotions. Virat comes across as a very, very passionate guy, and comes with controlled aggression,” Venkatesh Prasad said.

“This doesn’t mean that he goes overboard. People might feel that he goes overboard but that’s his aggression, that’s what keeps him going. That is what keeps him in the game. That is what keeps him thinking all the time. It’s easily visible, whereas Sourav’s aggression wasn’t that visible apart from a couple of incidents.” he added.

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