Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly's captaincy styles are similar: Venkatesh Prasad

Ever since he took over the reins of India’s captaincy from MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli’s performance as the leader of the side has been scrutinized on various parameters. When his successful run as the captain should have been the only point of discussion, pundits tried to juxtapose his style with how MSD led the team.

The glaring differences between the two leaders were apparent. But according to Venkatesh Prasad Kohli's style of captaincy is similar to another former India captain - Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly led the resurrection of the Indian side after assuming charge in 2000.

“I think Sourav and Virat are pretty much on similar lines because Sourav also took up captaincy when there were a lot of negative things going around the team. That's one. Second, Sourav had to really transform the team. I think it required huge leadership skills basically. And that's what Sourav showed. He had an amazing leadership quality and he set the standard both as captain and a player. He set very high standards in both categories," Prasad said while speaking to Timesofindia.com

“Yet there were some shortcomings. When it comes to Sourav’s fitness, or maybe his fielding skills or whatever, but that’s fine. Who doesn’t have shortcomings? But what was important at that stage was a good leader. And that’s what Sourav showed everybody – what a leader can do. He transformed the team,” he added further.

Prasad, however, also pointed out the difference between Kohli and Ganguly. The former India pacer thinks that the Royal Challengers Bangalore is more expressive in comparison to Ganguly.

“Virat is pretty much on the same lines of Sourav. Sourav never showed his emotions, a couple of times only we have seen Sourav showing his emotions. Virat comes across as a very, very passionate guy, and comes with controlled aggression,” Prasad said.

He refused to agree with the opinion that Kohli goes overboard while expressing himself on the field.

“This doesn’t mean that he (Kohli) goes overboard. People might feel that he goes overboard but that’s his aggression, that’s what keeps him going. That is what keeps him in the game. That is what keeps him thinking all the time. It’s easily visible, whereas Sourav’s aggression wasn’t that visible apart from a couple of incidents.”