Mohammad Kaif Has Unflinching Take On 'Best Captain' Question

The India cricket team has had some of the finest leaders over the years. Be it Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or others, many captians have led a lasting impact on the team. While it was Kapil and Dhoni who succeeded in getting India the biggest accolades in the form of World Cups, the likes of Ganguly and Kohli transformed the way India played cricket, especially against big teams. Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who led the team's chase in that epic NatWest series triumph against England in 2002, was asked to pick the best captain he played under and he had no hesitation in picking Ganguly's name.

In an interaction on 'Virtual Encounters' on DD India, Kaif hailed the captain Ganguly was during his active days as a cricketer.

"I would say Sourav Ganguly. I remember he told me that I should go out there and give my best shot and that he is there to back me, he is there to support me. That's a big comment. As a young guy, if you have a captain like Sourav Ganguly, you get emboldened while playing for India," he said.

"Sourav Ganguly was amazing, he was fantastic. Captaincy means you need to be a leader - lead from the front, pick the right players and back them. Ganguly built the team," the former India batter added.

Kaif even highlighted how the Dada took the Indian team forward after the infamous 2001 match-fixing scandal.

"After what had happened earlier, when he got the opportunity to captain after the 2001 match-fixing scandal, he took the Indian team forward. He brought the likes of Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Harbhajan Singh. So I think he was the one, took the team forward, there is no doubt about that," he said.