Virat Kohli is Correct, Need Preparation Time For SA Tour: Ganguly

Ganguly said, “You got to give teams time to prepare when they go to South Africa.”

Virat Kohli had on Thursday spoken out against the Indian cricket team’s packed schedule. 

(Photo: PTI)

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed current skipper Virat Kohli on the issue of cramped scheduling and said that the team needs more time to prepare for tough assignments like the upcoming South Africa tour.

Kohli on Thursday complained that cramped schedules are getting in the way of proper preparation for a big series such as the upcoming tour to South Africa, a criticism that the BCCI promised to address with "utmost seriousness".

Echoing Kohli's concerns, Ganguly said, "He (Kohli) was talking about scheduling of cricket which is so correct. You got to give teams time to prepare when they go to South Africa."

Ganguly also lavished praise on Kohli who has notched up 50 international century at the Eden Test against Sri Lanka. He said Kohli can challenge Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI hundreds but the challenge would be to match the Little Master's 51 hundreds in Test.

"Virat will get very close to Sachin's ODI hundreds which is 49. He is already 32. He will get close to that. He has got to stay fit. When I was playing, from 1996-2003, I had 22 ODI hundreds in 7 years," Ganguly said.

"I see that with Kohli as well. He has got 30 odd in about nine years. It gets tougher with age. It got tougher for Sachin, it got tougher for me, it will get tougher for Virat Kohli," said Ganguly, who has 22 centuries in 311 ODIs and 16 Test tons in 113 games.

"He (Kohli) plays a lot of cricket. I personally feel he will get there to 50 international hundreds with the amount of ODIs that are played. The challenge will be in Test matches to get that far. It's a terrific feeling to have seen Sachin and now you are seeing this boy," Ganguly added.

File photo of Sachin Tendulkar (L) and Sourav Ganguly (R)

Asked to compare Tendulkar and Kohli, Ganguly said they are from different generations. He said Kohli is more expressive and proactive as captain than Tendulkar.

"It's not right to compare because these are two cricketers who are from two different generations. I have seen Tendulkar very very closely. An unbelievable cricketer. Some of the runs he has got, match-winning innings he has played is fantastic.

"Kohli, a hundred a couple of days ago at Eden Gardens on that pitch, and you could see his expression when he finished. He is a lot more expressive than Tendulkar. He is a lot more proactive than Tendulkar as captain. Tendulkar was different, maybe the generation was different," he said.

Ganguly said he's like an average Bengali man at home but he had to change the attitude of the team when he led because some of the players needed to be pushed to develop an aggressive Indian side.

"I am a very quiet person off the field, very laidback like a lot of Bengalis. When I became captain, I realised we had to do something different. As Indians, we were very laidback. (Virender) Sehwag was a fantastic talent but off the field, you would find him asleep and you had to push him. I had to get that atmosphere. It was a strategy to get the team going," Ganguly said.