‘Dil ki baat jubaan pe aa hi jaati hai’ – Fans react as Sourav Ganguly takes indirect dig at Virat Kohli for not winning IPL trophy

Former Indian Cricket Board President Sourav Ganguly took an unintentional dig at Virat Kohli as he mistakenly referred to journalist Vikant Gupta as “Virat” while talking about winning an IPL trophy. During his latest interview with Sports Tak, the former Indian skipper hailed Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni for winning the IPL five times and said that it is not easy to win a big tournament like this.

The famous journalist Vikrant Gupta asked Ganguly about the leadership of the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma during an interview on June 17. As the former cricketer was praising Rohit and Dhoni, his tongue slipped when he was trying to tell that winning IPL is not an easy task. “IPL jeetna itna aasan nahi hai, Virat (It’s not so easy to win IPL, Virat),” Ganguly said mistakenly. However, he immediately corrected his mistake by addressing the journalist with his correct name.

Selectors needed a captain after Virat left and Rohit was the best: Ganguly

Elaborating his statement, Ganguly said that a team needs to win four to five matches in order to qualify for the knockout stages of international tournaments like the World Cup. While in IPL, you have to play almost 17 games to win the championship. Speaking further, he also spoke about the captaincy of Rohit after Kohli decided to step down from the role in all formats.

“The selectors needed a captain after Virat left and Rohit was the best that time. He had won 5 IPL trophies and done well at the international level as well; he won the Asia Cup. He was the best option. India also played in the final of the Test championship, although we lost,” Ganguly said.

“I have full faith in Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs. In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions,” he added.