'Sourav Ganguly played a huge part in giving the Indian team a lot of steel' - Kumar Sangakkara
Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara recently opined that Sourav Ganguly instilled a lot of belief and character in the Indian team. He added that the former Indian captain's biggest contribution was the wins the team registered away from home in Test cricket.
Kumar Sangakkara, along with Gautam Gambhir, Graeme Smith and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, discussed the captaincy records of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni in away Test matches in the latest episode of the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
Sangakkara mentioned that a team is judged by how they perform in tough foreign conditions and not the familiar environs of home, and stated that he believes this was Sourav Ganguly's greatest contribution to Indian cricket.
"Dada had a huge part in giving the Indian team a lot of steel, self-belief and character. Forget about winning at home, I think all sides are comfortable winning at home."
"But it is about going outside and testing yourself in tough conditions that you are not familiar with against the best in the world and having that fire and hunger and the belief to win. I think that's where Dada made the biggest difference to Indian cricket."
Graeme Smith also mentioned that Sourav Ganguly had inculcated the toughness in the Indian team which was supposedly conspicuous by its absence in earlier Indian outfits.
"Sourav Ganguly brought a toughness to Indian cricket which perception-wise hadn't been there before. He was certainly quite a fiery character on the field. He certainly was a huge pillar in the strength of Indian cricket and where it has gone to today."
Kris Srikkanth also rated Sourav Ganguly as a better Test captain away from home compared to MS Dhoni, considering the Test wins the former registered in tough foreign conditions.
"Dada had a positive approach. He may not have won the series but you need to see the impact. He won matches in Australia, England and Pakistan - three difficult places."
"If you see outside India, impact as a captain, impact as a team, then Sourav Ganguly's name is definitely above."
Gautam Gambhir on why MS Dhoni was not as successful as Sourav Ganguly
Gautam Gambhir revealed that the Indian Test team under MS Dhoni was probably a little more defensive and were looking to avoid defeat rather than chasing victories away from home.
"If you are scared of losing, you will never win. Probably if you are just looking for a draw and trying to protect yourself going overseas its fine. Even under MS Dhoni when we went overseas to South Africa, Australia and England, people didn't expect us to win."
"There was still that fear that we don't want to lose, if we had gone with an open mind thinking that even if we lose the world won't come to an end, we would have given ourselves a better chance."
He also added that the batsmen, including himself, had to shoulder the blame for not putting enough runs on the board, especially during the two series whitewashes the Indian team had to endure in England and Australia in 2011.
"When we got whitewashed in England after winning the 2011 World Cup and the same year in Australia, I feel batsman starting from me till No.7 (MS Dhoni), most of the blame should go to us."
"Because we didn't score the runs, we didn't give enough runs to the bowlers for them to bowl an attacking line."
Sourav Ganguly registered 11 victories in the 28 Test matches he captained India away from home, for a win percentage of approximately 39%. This was in sharp contrast to the 1 win that India had recorded in 47 Test matches away from home prior to him taking over the captaincy. The Indian team under Sourav Ganguly drew Test series in England and Australia, and registered their first-ever Test series win in Pakistan.
MS Dhoni had a decent start to his career as an overseas Test captain with a series win against NZ in 2009 and a drawn series against South Africa. But it took a turn for the worse in 2011, with India being whitewashed by England and Australia. Overall, the Indian team under MS Dhoni won just 6 out of the 30 Test matches away from home for a win percentage of 20%.