Kolkata: A day ago, Rohit Sharma had said he didn’t need to make any change in his technique in order to play Test cricket and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly felt that it might be his way of being successful in that format.
“I don’t exactly have any opinion about it. If he feels he’ll be successful that way, so be it,” said Ganguly at a book launch event in the city.
Rohit was included into the side in place of Ajinkya Rahane and he failed to make any impact in both the matches he played.
The third Test in Johannesburg was one of the talked about ones, not only about the contest between bat and ball but also about the uneven nature of the pitch, where the batsmen found it difficult to score runs.
But Indian skipper Virat Kohli seemed to be in a different league altogether, playing some glorious shots of the front foot and scoring 41 crucial runs.
Kohli ended the series as the highest run getter with 286 runs, including a 153 in Centurion. When asked as whether Kohli would be an evolved cricketer after this series, Ganguly felt that the 29-year-old keeps getting better day by day.
“He’s a remarkable young player. There’s nothing new and nothing old about him. He just keeps getting better every day and he’s one of the best in the world at the moment,” said the former southpaw.
Commenting on the pitch, he felt that South Africa’s plan of preparing fast pitches might have backfired in Johannesburg where even their batsmen found it difficult to score runs.
“Might be (if South Africa’s plan boomeranged on them). They might have thought they’ll beat India 3-0. But I have never seen such a poor wicket in South Africa. I have toured South Africa many times-three Test series, one World Cup and one IPL as well. I have never seen such a poor wicket in South Africa. It’s an accident and I hope it won’t happen anytime in the future.”
He also recalled the 2006 Test series in South Africa when the Indian captain under his captaincy had won the toss in Johannesburg, batted first and had won the game just like Kohli’s India did few days back.
“Actually when India had won the toss and batted first, I knew that they would win because this wicket would get worse with time. In 2006, we had won the toss and had batted first and won,” he added.
While talking about who were the favourites, heading into the ODI series between India and South Africa, Ganguly mentioned that both sides have equal chances of winning but AB’s absence would definitely be a boost to the Indians.
“Both have a 50-50 chance of winning. They only have to go forward after the way they won the Johannesburg Test. But beating South Africa in South Africa wouldn’t be easy. The one advantage for India is the absence of AB de Villiers who is a huge name for South African cricket and if Virat Kohli scores runs, then India can win,” said Ganguly.