‘Like Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli Has Done The Same For India’ – Former Australia Coach Reveals What Connects The Two Cricketers

According to Buchanan, both Ganguly and Kohli instilled confidence in their teams and inspired them to conduct differently against strong opponents, and found ways to beat them.

Fearless approach and aggressive attitude defined Sourav Ganguly’s era as the India captain and former Australia coach John Buchanan sees similar shades in current skipper Virat Kohli’s approach.

According to Buchanan, both Ganguly and Kohli instilled confidence in their teams and inspired them to conduct differently against strong opponents, and found ways to beat them.

It was under Kohli that India registered their first ever Test series win in Australia during the memorable 2018-19 tour when they won a four-match series 2-1.

“Once Sourav took over, he instilled a different way of not only playing but also a different way of just conducting themselves against strong oppositions like Australia. It was a developing rivalry for sure, but Sourav was able to take it to another level. Like Ganguly, Kohli has done the same thing for the India team,” Buchanan told Sportstar.

Buchanan reckons that regardless of Kohli scoring runs or not, his real contribution is through leadership.

“He (Kohli) has done an incredibly good job irrespective of whether he is scoring runs or not. If we go back to 2019, (Cheteshwar) Pujara was the star of the series and Kohli made some contributions, so did (Ajinkya) Rahane. But Kohli’s real contribution is his leadership and captaincy and the way he instils greatness not only to win games but also in finding a way to beat teams,” Buchanan said.

However, India will only have Kohli for the first Test of their upcoming Test series in Australia as he has been granted paternity leave. Buchanan predicts India will miss his services on and off the field.

“Whoever replaces him – which is probably going to be Rahane – might be a good leader, but Kohli has something special about him. It’s not only on the field but they will also be missing him off the field, because it’s going to be a long tour,” Buchanan said.