Virender Sehwag Adds Fuel To Sourav Ganguly Vs Virat Kohli Captaincy Debate

Virender Sehwag feels Virat Kohli was biased in his backing of players, something which was not in the case of Sourav Ganguly.

Aditya Kumar

Updated on: 20 May 2022 10:44 am

Virat Kohli (left) and Sourav Ganguly were involved in a cold war during Kohli’s captaincy debacle.

Virender Sehwag feels Virat Kohli failed to match Sourav Ganguly as captain of the Indian team. The outspoken former India opener feels Ganguly build a team during his captaincy but Kohli couldn’t do so when he was at the helm. (More Cricket News)

Ganguly, one of the best Test captains of India, led the side in 49 games in the format with 21 wins, 15 draws and 13 defeats. He had a win percentage of 42.85. Meanwhile, Kohli enjoyed a statistically better record as Test captain with a win percentage of 58.82. He led the nation in 68 games in the format. Out of those, he won 40, lost 17 and drew 11 games.

“Sourav Ganguly built a new team, brought in new players and backed them through their highs and lows… I doubt if Kohli did that in his tenure,” said Sehwag in the upcoming episode of Home of Heroes, Sports18 newest offering.

Sehwag feels Kohli was biased in his backing of players, something which was not in the case of Ganguly.

Sehwag added that during the first two to three years, Kohli kept changing his team after almost every Test irrespective of the result of the games. “In my opinion, the number 1 captain is the one who builds a team and gives confidence to his players. He (Kohli) backed some players, some he did not,” he said.

Sehwag’s latest statement adds further fuel to the Ganguly-Kohli captaincy debate, especially at a time when the two former skippers are having a cold war. It all began when Kohli stepped down as India’s T20I captain. After this, Ganguly stated that the BCCI had asked the batting giant to stay in the role.

The rift between the two was upfront when Kohli refuted Ganguly's comments that the apex cricket body asked him to carry on as T20I leader. Quite unceremoniously, Kohli was removed as ODI captain. Before the rumours of BCCI planning to sack Kohli as Test captain got rife, he himself stepped down from the post after the Test series against South Africa which India lost 2-1 in January this year.