Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar on Friday heaped praise on India's legendary former captain Sourav Ganguly, calling him the "bravest batsman" he bowled to. Akhtar said that Ganguly was the "only opener" who could face him with the new ball.
"People used to say that he was scared to face fast bowling, he was afraid to face me. I think all of that was rubbish. Sourav Ganguly was the bravest batsman I ever bowled to, the only opener who could face me with the new ball," said Akhtar in an interview on the Helo app.
Akhtar further said that Ganguly had limited strokes when targeted on the body and but he still scored runs.
"He knew, he didn't have the shots, I also targeted him by bowling at his chest but he never backed away, and still scored runs. That is what I call bravery." (ALSO READ: Shahid Afridi tests positive for coronavirus)
Interestingly, in January, Akhtar also called Ricky Ponting the 'bravest' batsman. After Ponting named Akhtar as the "quickest bowler" he faced in a tweet, the Pakistan speedster replied, "Ricky you were the bravest of all !!"
Akhtar has also labelled Sourav Ganguly as the best Indian captain he played against. He said that India have not produced a better captain than Ganguly since.
"If I talk about India, then it will be Sourav Ganguly. India haven't produced a better captain than him. Dhoni is very good, he's a superb captain but when you talk about team building then Ganguly did a great job," said Akhtar.
