‘Tough opposition, great captain’: Shoaib Akhtar’s huge praise for Sourav Ganguly | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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‘Tough opposition, great captain’: Shoaib Akhtar’s huge praise for Sourav Ganguly

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Byhindustantimes.com
Aug 11, 2020 09:04 AM IST

Pakistan pace bowling legend Shoaib Akhtar praised former India captain Sourav Ganguly in his recent Instagram post.

On the cricket field, India and Pakistan were the fiercest of rivals. Whenever the two teams played each other, the fans used to get glued to their television sets to witness some of the biggest cricket battles. Shoaib Akhtar vs Sachin Tendulkar. Wasim Akram vs Sourav Ganguly. Saeed Anwar vs Zaheer Khan. Anil Kumble vs Inzamam-ul-Haq. Virender Sehwag vs Waqar Younis. These are some of the contests that India-Pakistan cricket matches have seen in the years gone by.

Shoaib Akhtar with Sourav Ganguly. File image.(Shoaib Akhtar/Instagram)
Shoaib Akhtar with Sourav Ganguly. File image.(Shoaib Akhtar/Instagram)

The cricketing rivalry only intensified during Sourav Ganguly’s reign as India captain. When Ganguly took the captaincy role, he brought in a never-say-die attitude within his team. The Indian team were suddenly challenging top oppositions in the world, and were doing it with passion rarely seen before in Indian dressing room.

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Ganguly-led Indian team became a fierce competitors for all oppositions across the world, and in spite of the rivalry on the field, every nation, including Pakistan, has a great respect for what the former India captain had done for the team.

In a recent Instagram post, Pakistan pace bowling legend Shoaib Akhtar lauded Sourav Ganguly for his ability to be a fierce leader on the field. “I welcomed any opposition, because i was determined to see the battle through. One of my toughest opposition was the man himself @souravganguly,” Akhtar wrote. 

Akhtar, who played under Ganguly’s leadership for Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League in 2008, also praised Ganguly’s captaincy. “Not only a tough opposition but a great captain having played under his leadership for @kkriders,” Akhtar further wrote.

Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly, who is now the BCCI President, described the suspension of the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo as just a “blip”, dismissing talk that it might lead to a “financial crisis”. “I wouldn’t call it as a financial crisis. It’s just a little bit of a blip,” Ganguly said during a webinar on Saturday, organised by educational book publishers S Chand Group.

“BCCI, it’s a very a strong foundation - the game, the players, the administrators in the past have made this game so strong that BCCI is able to handle all these blips.” Ganguly said the BCCI always has a “Plan B” for these kind of situations.

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