'We will have a word with Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri' - Sourav Ganguly on team India's performance overseas

Lately, the performance of Indian cricket team hasn’t been upto the mark. The team performed poorly on the tour of New Zealand during the early months of the year. Though they whitewashed the Black Caps in T20I series, the team was thrashed badly in the One-day Internationals and Tests. Winning overseas has been a big problem for the Virat Kohli-led side and the New Zealand tour again exposed this issue.

The BCCI president and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly revealed that the capabilities of a team are judged on the basis of its performance away from home. He added that he will have a chat regarding the same with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri.

“You have to play well outside, they are not doing that. And there is no hiding. Even when I was captain, I said I will be only judged how good I am when we play away and it remains the same. We will have a word with Virat and Ravi and the boys and help them to play well away,” Ganguly said while speaking to Sportskeeda.

“I think it’s changed a bit in the last four months. Isn’t it. You see KL Rahul now playing both forms of the game, Mohammed Shami has come back for all forms of the game. Jadeja has played all forms of the game. Rohit has played all forms of the game, although Rohit had played all forms of the game before we came in and ran the board,” the 48-year-old added.

Speaking on the issue of consistency, the Kolkata stalwart admitted that it is an important element of the game and Virat Kohli is aware of it. Ganguly highlighted the results in New Zealand series and hoped that the team does well on Australia tour later this year.

“Consistency is important. Yes you must have pressure, but I always believe don’t put so much pressure that it doesn’t work. Virat understands it and he is on the same page. There would be odd 1-2 decisions here and there but as I said our perspective is to play well away. We did not play well in New Zealand. We have Australia coming in 5-6 months time. I want them to play well overseas, he further said.

I was not a born leader, says Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly is regarded as the person who has changed the shape of Indian cricket. Under his leadership, the Indian team became a side which could compete with any opponent anywhere in the world. On being asked about his leadership skills, he revealed that it took a lot of hard work and dedication from his side to lead his team successfully.

“I am completely different on the cricket field. I was not a born leader. It got better once I got to play the game. But I am a very competitive person on the field, otherwise not. Cricket was so important and close to me. Leading on the field was much harder. The 4-5 months (as BCCI boss) has been a great experience. There is a lot of work.”, Sourav said.