Former India captain Sourav Ganguly backs Kohli over voicing support for Ravi Shastri as coach

His style of captaincy was not too different from the incumbent captain Virat Kohli. Sourav Ganguly was as passionate and aggressive on the field during his playing days. No wonder, he would appreciate how his successor conducts himself on the turf as well. Recently, the former India skipper expressed his conviction that a captain has a major say on India’s selection process.

Kohli did nothing wrong by voicing his support for current head coach Ravi Shastri to extend his duration. Kohli came under criticism recently for backing Shastri as the head coach in a press conference before leaving for the West Indies. It was said that Kohli hadn’t done the right thing by backing a particular candidate when the selection process for the top post was on.

July 30 was the deadline for the submission of applications for India’s coaching staff recruitment. A number of former cricketers – both from India and abroad – have applied for a number of positions related to the coaching staff. Shastri is also among the applicants though he faced a backlash after India exited the showpiece tournament by losing to New Zealand by 18 runs in the semi-final.

It was the second time under Shastri’s tutelage that India crashed out of the World Cup in the last-four clash. The current coaching crew has been given an extension till the next team is in place and it is accompanying the Indian team to the Caribbeans for the month-long tour.

‘Captain has every right to say’

“He is the captain. He has got every right to say,” Timesnownews.com cited reports quoting the 47-year-old Ganguly as saying. Ganguly led India between 2000 and 2005 after taking over Sachin Tendulkar and made a profound impact by transforming India into one of the most competitive sides in world cricket – a legacy that was later carried forward by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kohli. It was after a fall-out with Australian Greg Chappell as the India coach that Ganguly lost his place.

Shastri has a bright chance of continuing as the head coach as India bagged some memorable victories abroad during his tenure. They beat South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in away ODI series; England in T20Is in their den and most remarkably, Australia in a Test series on their soil, something no other Indian team did before.