Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad on Wednesday opined on the difference in captaincy styles of former skipper Sourav Ganguly and present incumbent Virat Kohli. Prasad, who played the fag-end of his career under the leadership of Ganguly, reckoned that while the two were almost similar in their approach, the former did not show the same level of aggression, although controlled, as Kohli does.
“I think Sourav and Virat are pretty much on similar lines, because Sourav also took up captaincy when there were a lot of negative things going around the team. That’s one. Second, Sourav had to really transform the team. I think it required huge leadership skills basically. And that’s what Sourav showed. He had an amazing leadership quality and he set the standard both as captain and player,” Prasad told Times of India.
“Yet there were some shortcomings. When it comes to Sourav’s fitness, or maybe his fielding skills or whatever, but that’s fine. Who doesn’t have shortcomings? But what was important at that stage was a good leader. And that’s what Sourav showed everybody – what a leader can do. He transformed the team.”
Prasad further added that he never saw Ganguly expressing his emotions, barring a few times, on the field like Kohli. He also stood contrary to the popular opinion that Kohli sometimes tends to be over-aggressive on the field.
“Virat is pretty much on the same lines of Sourav. Sourav never showed his emotions, a couple of times only we have seen Sourav showing his emotions. Virat comes across as a very, very passionate guy, and comes with controlled aggression,” Prasad said.
“This doesn’t mean that he goes overboard. People might feel that he goes overboard but that’s his aggression, that’s what keeps him going. That is what keeps him in the game. That is what keeps him thinking all the time. It’s easily visible, whereas Sourav’s aggression wasn’t that visible apart from a couple of incidents.”
