Recently, former Aussie spinner Brad Hogg spoke highly of the former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and credited him for transforming the India-Australia rivalry.
“The one thing that Ganguly did was really test Australia. If you remember that Test match where he made Steve Waugh wait – I think he did not come with his blazer for the toss – he just knew what would rub Australia up the wrong way in that sense,” Hogg told former England, bowler, Steve Harmison on his YouTube Show ‘The Test of Time’.
He further opined, “I think during that particular time, when we went over there, before that, India were intimidated by us, and it wasn’t until Ganguly came in and started to stand up and fight back and give us the verbal, sort of upset us and get under our skin that things really turned around.”
“The contests between India and Australia started to be like England and Australia. There was a lot of noise, passion, and Ganguly was the one who turned it around and created that atmosphere and created that strength and different brand of cricket that India are playing now,” the former spinner explained.
Many experts and former cricketers also compare Ganguly and current Indian captain Virat Kohli as leaders, who are both expressive and in-the-opposition’s-face at all times. Kohli will be eager to break India’s 8-year-long ICC drought in the next edition of the T20 World Cup, to be held in the UAE from mid-October.
Despite some major success, Ganguly-led India couldn’t win an ICC title. Hence, Kohli will wish to not repeat the same with his current Indian team.
