Ganguly compares Kohli to football legend Maradona

Virat Kohli delighted after scoring 100 on the second day of the first Test match

Former Indian captain, Saurav Ganguly has compared the enthusiasm and passion of Indian skipper Virat Kohli to the legendary Argentina footballer Diego Maradona, as reported by Times of India.

“One of my favourite sportsmen was Diego Maradona and every time I saw him play football you could see the passion in the heart. You see the same thing with Virat Kohli. I love his body language. I am a big fan of Kohli,” Ganguly, himself a die-hard football fan, has said.

Kohli is currently leading the Indian side in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka and the balance is heavily tipped in India’s favour to win the first match. He stroked a magnificent century today in a record-breaking partnership with Shikhar Dhawan, which has helped India to post a healthy lead of 192 runs.

Ganguly was impressed with the body language and the overall demeanour of the skipper. Kohli has also been extremely successful with the bat in the matches he has captained till now.

“He's hungry, he wants to win. He got a Test hundred again as a captain. He's scored four hundreds from the four Tests he captained so far. This is a fabulous sign," Ganguly said.

It should be mentioned that the aggressive and assertive nature of Kohli, both on and off the field, has often come under criticism from various quarters, but he wears his attitude on his sleeve. It can be said that Ganguly was the first captain who started giving back to the opposition, be it the sledging matches with Aussies or the famous shirt waving episode in Lord’s, he had his share of confrontations too.

On being asked about Kohli’s decision of promoting struggling Rohit Sharma to No. 3, ahead of him, Ganguly remarked that management should give more time to Sharma.

“Give Sharma an opportunity at No. 3 for a while. You cannot just see someone for a Test and leave him out. India needs to build a team for all conditions. I'm completely in favour of Sharma getting an opportunity,” Ganguly said.

He also credited Ravichandran Ashwin for getting India in a strong position with his six-wicket haul in the first innings.

“Superb show by Ashwin on the first day of a Test... It's because of him India are in a commanding position. He spun the ball. The moment a spinner gets turn he becomes dangerous,” the southpaw added.

With Kohli at the helm, a new era of aggressive cricket may have started for the Indian team, one can only hope that this aggression gets converted into consistent performances on overseas tours.