Never felt India could beat Pakistan until Sourav Ganguly became the captain: Shoaib Akhtar

Cricketers from across the globe are congratulating Sourav Ganguly after news of him becoming the next BCCI president became public. The former India skipper has filed his nomination for the BCCI election and is set to be elected unopposed. Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has also extended his best wishes to Ganguly.

Akhtar not only lauded the decision of making Ganguly the BCCI president but also had high praise for the former India batsman. Akhtar, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) under the captaincy of Ganguly, believes that his former IPL teammate transformed Indian cricket. Ganguly had become the captain of the team in 2000 when Indian cricket was involved in the infamous match-fixing scandal.

Dada changed the mentality of Indian cricket, says Shoaib Akhtar

It did not take Ganguly long to forge a world-class team and lay the foundation for Indian cricket to dominate the world. Akhtar said that he never felt India would be able to beat Pakistan before Ganguly took over. The legendary pacer said that Ganguly changed the mindset of his teammates and also had a good understanding of talented players.

“One person that transformed Indian cricket was Sourav Ganguly, never felt before 97-98 that India could beat Pakistan. I never felt India had the system to beat Pakistan until Sourav Ganguly became the captain. Sourav Ganguly changed the mentality of Indian cricket. He had an eye to pick a talent to play for India,” Shoaib Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“Sourav Ganguly is a great leader, he is honest person when it comes to picking up talent. He is a brilliant cricketing knowledge,” he added.

A short-term tenure

While the cricketing world is looking forward to seeing Ganguly in his new role, he would not hold his office for long. Ganguly’s appointment will be a short one as he will have to go in for a cooling-off period from July 2020, according to the new BCCI constitution.

He has been holding posts in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) for the past five years where he currently serves as president. An administrator can only serve six years on the trot.

Watch the video here