"He stuck to us for a bit because he knew that we would be match-winners in the future" - Yuvraj Singh hails Sourav Ganguly's captaincy

Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh hailed his first captain Sourav Ganguly for constantly sticking with youngsters, believing they would eventually turn into match-winners. Yuvraj started his international career under Ganguly in the 2000 Champions Trophy.

With the southpaw slowly becoming a vital cog in the ODI unit, India achieved tremendous success under Ganguly, reaching the 2000 Champions Trophy and 2003 World Cup final and being joint-winners of the 2002 Champions Trophy.

When asked to pick his favorite Indian captain on the Club Prairie Fire YouTube Podcast, Yuvraj started with Ganguly and said [21:12]:

"I got in the side when Sourav (Ganguly) was the captain and he gave us a lot of confidence and a lot of chances because we were younger and we were not consistent. He stuck to us for a bit because he knew that we would be match-winners in the future. 1. When the team went to Dhoni, we had a really good coach in Gary Kirsten, who made us believe that we can win the World Cup and be the No.1 Test side."

Ganguly led India in 195 matches across formats with the side winning 97 and losing 78 games and the other 15 ending in draws.

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"What I liked about Dhoni was he would always have a Plan B" - Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj enjoyed unparalleled success under MS Dhoni [Credit: Getty]

Yuvraj Singh praised MS Dhoni as a captain who always had a secondary plan should Plan A not succeed.

He enjoyed incredible success under Dhoni's captaincy, winning the Player of the Tournament during India's 2011 ODI World Cup triumph. Yuvraj also played a key role in helping India win the 2007 T20 World Cup under Dhoni.

"Dhoni was a good captain as well. Sourav was more of being aggressive and trying to take teams head-on and what I liked about Dhoni was he would always have a Plan B. If Plan A doesn't work, go to Plan B," said Yuvraj in the same video [22:02].

Dhoni remains India's most successful captain with 178 wins and 120 losses in 332 games across formats.

Yuvraj also praised Anil Kumble as someone who would be a leader during his captaincy tenure.

"Kumble became the Test captain when we toured Australia and his attitude was to take the ball when the situation was tough and not give it to another guy and when wickets are falling, let me take the ball. That kind of attitude was great and he was a leader," Yuvraj added.

Kumble captained India in only 15 matches, winning four and losing five with six draws.

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