Cricket
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria feels Virat Kohli will not have a good bond with head coach Rahul Dravid for long.
Updated : Dec 24, 2021, 02:14 PM IST | Edited by : Amrit Santlani
In the lead up to India's Test series versus South India, red-ball skipper Virat Kohli has been in the midst of a controversy with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly, which is hardly the ideal preparation for India's tour of the Proteas.
Many former cricketers have weighed in their opinions, ever since Kohli came out in the press and openly refuted Ganguly comments on the captaincy saga. Moreover, in the midst of this storm, Kohli was also sacked as the ODI captain and Rohit Sharma was handed the duties to lead India in both limited-overs formats.
One of the many former cricketers who have had their say on this debate is former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria, who feels Virat Kohli will enjoy a fruitful relationship with new head coach Rahul Dravid, after falling out with previous coach Anil Kumble and most recently with Sourav Ganguly.
"Virat had problems with Anil Kumble, now he has problems with Ganguly. Kumble and Ganguly have proved themselves; they are the real ambassadors of the game. Virat is speaking against Ganguly who has changed Indian cricket and then MS Dhoni took it forward. Now Virat's 90-minute jibe is really not needed at this time," said Kaneria in an interview with IANS.
He further continued, "I don't think Virat Kohli's relation with Dravid will be good in the long run. Virat had a problem with Anil Kumble as well. Both Kumble and Dravid are coming from South India and they have big status in cricket. I played against both of them, and I know what kind of intellectuals they are."
The former leg-spinner also highlighted how Virat Kohli has not scored a single international century in the past two years and advised him to focus on his performances instead because speaking against former players won't do him any good.
"It's been two years, Virat has not made any century, so he needs to focus on his game. Speaking against legends like Saurav Ganguly and anyone else is not going to help him," concluded Kaneria.
Currently, the pair of Kohli and Dravid are in South Africa preparing for the first Test match that commences from December 26.