Formidable Chennai stand in Mumbai's way of maiden IPL crown

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.