'Sourav Ganguly was the bravest batsman I ever bowled to,' says Shoaib Akhtar
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has opined that Sourav Ganguly was the bravest batsman he ever bowled to in his career. Akhtar also spoke highly of the former Indian captain's leadership skills, and the transformation the latter brought about in the Indian team.
In an interaction on the Helo App, Shoaib Akhtar chose Sourav Ganguly as the most courageous opposition batsman he played against in his career. He added that contrary to common belief, Ganguly was never one to take a step back and always confronted him with utmost bravery.
"A lot of people might believe that Ganguly was a coward and scared of me as a bowler. But if you ask me, he was the bravest batsman I ever bowled to in my career. He may not have had many attacking shots against my bowling. I even tried to hit him on his chest several times, but he would still come out as an opener. He would face me like a brave guy and score plenty of runs. To add to that, he was also a courageous captain for India."
Shoaib Akhtar's opinion on Sourav Ganguly as a captain
Shoaib Akhtar was also full of praise for Sourav Ganguly's leadership qualities. He picked his former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper as his favourite Indian captain.
The Rawalpindi Express, the sobriquet he earned for his express pace, added that it was Dada who had instilled the fighting spirit in the Indian team.
"Sourav Ganguly was my favourite Indian captain, there has been no better captain than him from India. MS Dhoni was also an excellent captain. When we played against India in the 1990s, I never felt they could win against us. But when Dada became a captain in the 2000s, I started feeling that the Indian team had the talent to beat us and they did that. It was he who brought this transformation in the Indian team."
Akhtar also professed his love for Bengali people, having had first-hand experience of interacting with them during his stint with KKR.
"Bengali people are courageous, gutsy and have the ability to lead from the forefront. I love Bengali people".
Sourav Ganguly scored a total of 7212 runs in the 113 Test matches he played for India. He was even more successful in ODI cricket, with 11363 runs to his name in 311 matches.
In the 7 Test matches he played against Shoaib Akhtar, the former Indian middle-order batsman scored 723 runs at an impressive average of 65.72. This also includes his highest Test score of 239 runs, scored in 2007 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.