Former Australia coach John Buchanan has revealed that he finds glimpses of former India captain Sourav Ganguly in Virat Kohli’s leadership.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and India Captain Virat Kohli. (PTI image)
HIGHLIGHT
- John Buchanan says Sourav Ganguly had taken the India-Australia rivalry to another level
- Buchanan and Ganguly worked together with KKR on the IPL
- Former Australia coach sees glimpses of Ganguly at Virat Kohli
Australia’s World Cup winning coach John Buchanan has remembered former India captain Sourav Ganguly as the leader who took the India-Australia rivalry to a whole new level. Buchanan recalls that such a rivalry was only “developing” when Ganguly took over, but it was under his command that India grew into this passionate group that could give Australia a run for the money.
Buchanan has also worked closely with Sourav Ganguly when the latter was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and the Australian was the franchise’s head coach. The former Australian coach has expressed that he finds glimpses of Sourav Ganguly in the leadership of current India captain Virat Kohli.
“Once Sourav took over, he instilled not only a different way of playing, but also a different way of behaving against strong opponents like Australia. It sure was a developing rivalry, but Sourav was able to take it to another level. Like Ganguly, Kohli has done the same for the Indian team, ”Buchanan told Sportstar.
India will play a 4-game test series to wrap up the 8-week tour and Buchanan remembers the last time the subcontinent traveled through Australia. It was under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara’s class show that the Indian team won a series of tests in Australia for the first time since independence, on the 2018-19 tour.
“He (Kohli) has done an incredibly good job, regardless of whether he is scoring runs or not. If we go back to 2019, [Cheteshwar] Pujara was the star of the series and Kohli made some contributions, too [Ajinkya] Rahane … But Kohli’s real contribution is his leadership and captaincy and the way he instills greatness, not only to win games, but also to find a way to beat teams, ”added Buchanan.
Since Kohli was not present for the last three tests, as the Indian captain will be flying back to India for the birth of his first child, Buchanan believes it will have an impact on the test series.
“I think his absence from the last three tests will play a big role in how the series unfolds,” Buchanan said.
