Ability and hunger sets Virat Kohli apart from others, believes Sourav Ganguly

The former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly is all praise of the skipper Virat Kohli after scoring his 50th International ton in Kolkata at Eden Gardens. The captain changed gears at the right time and slammed his 18th Test century on Monday to give Indian bowlers a shot at the visitors in the final session. The hosts came three wickets within the sensational victory before the play was stopped due to the quickly fading light.

Ganguly has often rated the 29-year-old cricketer high as a captain and cricketer. He himself was aggressive when he led the side in the early 2000s and is now watching Virat emulate him. Kohli also broke the hoodoo at the iconic Stadium where he averaged only 14 in the longest format of the game before his century in the second innings. Ganguly also believed that Kohli is in the league of the legends already with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

He is just a fantastic cricketer

The President of the Cricket Association of Bengal explained the importance of his knock on the final day which helped India save the Test match. “If Virat would have got out today then this game could have gone either way because this wicket had enough for the seamers to get wickets even on Day 5 as Indian bowlers showed. He is a fantastic player, I have seen Gavaskar, I have seen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and this man (Kohli) is right up there with everyone and is just a fantastic cricketer,” he told India Today in an interview.

Sourav Ganguly hailed Kohli for his ability and hunger to score runs when the stalks are laid against him. “Ability and hunger (sets Virat apart). Virat Kohli is a remarkable player. He is one player who when he gets fifty makes sure that he gets a hundred and that is the difference between him and the rest. He is a great player to watch because of his intensity. How many times have we seen Virat Kohli turn up on the cricket ground half awake? He is always ready, he is always up and he is always at the top of his game. It was a magnificent hundred and his celebrations at the end of it spoke volumes,” he added.

However, the 45-year-old also felt that the Sri Lankan would not create too much pressure on the Indian batting line-up on flat pitches. “The Sri Lankan attack has looked good because they got so much purchase from this pitch but on flat pitches this Lankan fast bowling attack will not be able to create too many impressions on the Indian batting. So this is a strong message to Sri Lanka that listen we were down and out but we can come back and beat you,” Dada concluded.