"As a young guy, if you have a captain like Sourav Ganguly, you get emboldened" - Mohammad Kaif on the best captain he played under

Mohammad Kaif has picked Sourav Ganguly as the best captain he played under, highlighting the former Indian skipper's ability to embolden his young team members.

Ganguly led India in 49 Tests and 146 ODIs. He enjoyed a win percentage of 42.85 and 52.05 respectively in the two formats. Apart from a plethora of memorable Test wins, the former Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) president took the Men in Blue to the 2003 World Cup final and the 2002 Champions Trophy title along with joint-winners Sri Lanka.

During an interaction on 'Virtual Encounters' on DD India, Kaif was asked to pick the best captain he played under. He named Ganguly without any hesitation, reasoning:

"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."

The 2000 Under-19 World Cup-winning skipper pointed out that Ganguly had all the virtues of a great leader, elaborating:

"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."

Kaif played 83 of his 125 ODIs under Ganguly's captaincy. The right-handed batter amassed 1935 runs in these games at an average of 35.18, which was slightly better than his overall career average of 32.01.

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"He took the Indian team forward" - Mohammad Kaif on Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly led India to a memorable home Test series win against Australia in 2001.

Mohammad Kaif highlighted that Ganguly took over India's captaincy in one of its most difficult times and was responsible for bringing many youngsters to the fore:

"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."

Some of India's biggest match-winners like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have often credited their successful careers to Ganguly. They have thanked him for backing them when they were going through a bad patch and ensuring that they were not sidelined.