Virat Kohli's India 'need to win big tournaments' - Sourav Ganguly

[Ankit_sharma03]

BCCI president-in-waiting Sourav Ganguly’s first media conference on returning to his home town following his nomination had him facing more questions on the sport and the performance of the India cricket team than administrative issues, though the former India skipper said cricket administration in the country was going through an ‘emergency period’.

Ganguly’s opinion was sought on the Indian team’s performances, and he said: “India are a good team. The only issue (skipper) Virat Kohli needs to address is that we have not won the last seven major tournaments. But they play well in big tournaments, except the semifinals and the final. Hopefully, Virat can change it around. He is a champion player.”

The 47-year-old said wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who comes from a state whose association Ganguly heads, had to score more runs. “There is no question on his wicketkeeping skills but he has to score runs if he has to play 100 matches. There is one more match in the South Africa series and he still has a chance to score a century,” said Ganguly.

In what was seen as his bid to turn the page on controversies during his playing career, Ganguly denied he was at the receiving end of politics or injustice, despite journalists repeatedly asking him if his elevation as BCCI president would heal the wounds suffered during his cricket career.

“Only once or twice,” he said. “Only three Indian cricketers have played more than 300 ODIs and 100 Test matches. They are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and yours truly. This would have been impossible had I faced politics or injustice,” the former skipper said.

Questions were also asked about the tussle between Ganguly as skipper and then coach Greg Chappell during 2005-2006, when he lost captaincy with his deputy, Rahul Dravid, taking over.

He was later dropped from the ODI and Test sides, though he staged a comeback in 2007. However, it is widely believed he was persuaded by the national selectors to retire in 2008 though he was keen to continue.

Also Read: Can Kohli’s India dominate like Waugh & Ponting’s Aus: Watson has his say

Asked if the media could call his new role as “the Bengal tiger is back”, Ganguly quipped: “You can say ‘back in Bengal’.”

Deflecting any comparison with the late Jagmohan Dalmyia, the last BCCI president from Kolkata, Ganguly said, “He achieved whatever was there to achieve as an administrator. I will consider myself successful even if I manage to achieve 50%.”

He said he would operate from both Kolkata and Mumbai, where the board headquarters is based.

 

Link - https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/sourav-ganguly-wants-virat-kohli-to-focus-on-winning-big-tournaments/story-JKBL91rAdNi37kfYwAnAeK.html

Edited October 16, 2019 by Ankit_sharma03

[Ankit_sharma03]

MAKE ROHIT CAPTAIN In LOI 

[Norman]

SACK BEWDA AS WELL. 

[Khota]

Dada is absolutely right. Winning big tournaments is very important.

[gattaca]

Ganguly and kohli are very similar both chocked in big tournaments. Both liked and promoted few players always and worked on improving Indian fast bowling. The only thing different is Ganguly liked younger players kohli prefers older players. 

Edited October 17, 2019 by gattaca

[diga]

Time somebody called a spade,  a spade

[Khota]

43 minutes ago, gattaca said:

Ganguly and kohli are very similar both chocked in big tournaments. Both liked and promoted few players always and worked on improving Indian fast bowling. The only thing different is Ganguly liked younger players kohli prefers older players. 

I think Dada was lot more fair to players than Kohli is. Dada worked with lesser talent so it was hard to win but Kohli has a full cupboard.

[Vilander]

On point day 1. Guy is a legend. 

[GautiMaan]

3 hours ago, gattaca said:

Ganguly and kohli are very similar both chocked in big tournaments. Both liked and promoted few players always and worked on improving Indian fast bowling. The only thing different is Ganguly liked younger players kohli prefers older players. 

Maybe but Dada's preferences paved the way for India to be World Champions after his tenure as captain where as many of Kohli's decisions are just knee-jerk or shortsighted and I fear by the time he steps down he would have created a culture where youth is always sidelined

[New guy]

3 hours ago, gattaca said:

Ganguly and kohli are very similar both chocked in big tournaments. Both liked and promoted few players always and worked on improving Indian fast bowling. The only thing different is Ganguly liked younger players kohli prefers older players. 

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

[Suhaan]

49 minutes ago, New guy said:

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

Great post,need people to know the massive difference which they don't

[Cricwala]

2 hours ago, GautiMaan said:

Maybe but Dada's preferences paved the way for India to be World Champions after his tenure as captain where as many of Kohli's decisions are just knee-jerk or shortsighted and I fear by the time he steps down he would have created a culture where youth is always sidelined

Bingo...Ganguly promoted risk taking and backed youth, while Kohli has been very harsh & dismissive with potential match-winners at first sign of trouble. Kohli could very well leave behind a safety-first, defensive culture in next generation of cricketers

[rtmohanlal]

2 hours ago, New guy said:

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

this....  losing to an ATG  team  in the finals  chasing a huge 359  & losing to a  lower ranked NZL in the semi chasing only a modest 239 are chalk and cheese apart.

[Ankit_sharma03]

 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

2 hours ago, New guy said:

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

but ganguly lost in finals all the time apart from natwest......it wasnt just the aussies 

That Ind-WI-zimb tri nation where we were dominating but lost in finals 

[Suhaan]

59 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

but ganguly lost in finals all the time apart from natwest......it wasnt just the aussies 

That Ind-WI-zimb tri nation where we were dominating but lost in finals 

But then it was an era where we used to see lot of tri nation ,four nation tournaments 

Nowadays we usually get to see bilaterals and im sure Kohli and his team would choke in those finals as well

We barely won two such trophies against BD in the finals that too without Kohli

Had he played in those two, we would have definitely lost both and become a laughingstock for the world

[Ankit_sharma03]

10 minutes ago, Suhaan said:

But then it was an era where we used to see lot of tri nation ,four nation tournaments 

Nowadays we usually get to see bilaterals and im sure Kohli and his team would choke in those finals as well

We barely won two such trophies against BD in the finals that too without Kohli

Had he played in those two, we would have definitely lost both and become a laughingstock for the world

yea even m sure he ll loose, both ganguly n kohli have same problem in finals ....they let their nerves get onto them

[Khota]

Dada was much calmer and carried himself better than shoot from the hip Kohli. Kohli needs to win some big ones else it is all meaningless.

[gattaca]

7 hours ago, New guy said:

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

If I remember correctly Ganguly’s team couldn’t win 8 or 9 series after reaching finals. We lost to kiwis in champions trophy. Because of slow batting from Ganguly and Sachin in the last overs. 

[velu]

7 hours ago, New guy said:

I think there is a difference between losing to an all time great Australian team in the final on their turf and losing to a Pakistani and a kiwi team 

 

Not long back you hyped KohliS captaincy  just because you hated thala ..

Told you long back , Kohli is a crap captain