John Buchanan points out similarities between Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli ahead of Australia-India series

Ahead of the much-anticipated series between Australia and India, the former coach John Buchanan has compared Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli. India and Australia are scheduled to lock horns in three ODIs and three T20Is before playing out the much-awaited four-match Test series. The tour gets underway on November 27 with the ODI series.

And ahead of the series, Buchanan has lavished praise on Kohli. The India skipper is known for his never-say-die and fearless approach on the field which has made Buchanan draw a parallel between Kohli and Ganguly. The former coach stated that he sees shades of Ganguly in Kohli. Recalling Ganguly’s captaincy, Buchanan said just like the former captain, Kohli also finds out ways to lead his team to wins against strong teams.

“Once Sourav took over, he instilled a different way of not only playing but also a different way of just conducting themselves against strong oppositions like Australia. It was a developing rivalry for sure, but Sourav was able to take it to another level. Like Ganguly, Kohli has done the same thing for the India team,” John Buchanan told Sportstar.

Virat Kohli has done an incredible job: John Buchanan

John Buchanan further lavished praise on Kohli’s leadership. He said that Kohli has done a good job as a captain irrespective of his performance with the bat. He recalled India’s historic tour of Australia in 2018-19 to back his claim. Kohli had not really managed to live up to the expectations on that tour with the bat but became the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Australia.

“He [Virat Kohli] has done an incredibly good job – irrespective of whether he is scoring runs or not. If we go back to 2019, Pujara was the star of the series and Kohli made some contributions, so did [Ajinkya] Rahane. But Kohli’s real contribution is his leadership and captaincy and the way he instils greatness – not only to win games but also in finding a way to beat teams,” said John Buchanan.

For the upcoming Test series, Kohli won’t be able to play all the four games. The India skipper will return home after the first Test to be at the birth of his first child. Speaking about it, Buchanan said that Kohli’s absence will be felt not only on the field but off it as well.

“Whoever replaces him – which is probably going to be Rahane – might be a good leader, but Kohli has something special about him. It’s not only on the field but they will also be missing him off the field, because it’s going to be a long tour,” said Buchanan.