Sourav Ganguly Best Captain To Have Never Won An IPL Trophy: Mohammad Kaif

Sourav Ganguly led KKR and Pune Warriors India (PWI) in the IPL but couldn't make much of an impact as a leader. Mohammad Kaif named him the best skipper not to have lifted the trophy.

Sourav Ganguly was picked by Pune Warriors India after he went unsold at the 2011 Auctions.

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Ex-India batter Mohammad Kaif reckons that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) would have gone on to win three of four IPL titles as of now had they trusted Sourav Ganguly to lead the team for a few more seasons. Notably, the former India skipper was announced as the captain of the franchise before the inaugural season of the tournament in 2008.

Even though the team started off well with a dominant win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the league's first-ever match, they failed to secure a place in the final four. The team, however, did not show patience despite Ganguly's proven track record as a leader in international cricket and said that they would have a multiple captains approach in which they shuffled between Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Brad Hodge.

However when the idea flopped in 2009, Ganguly returned at the helm of affairs in 2010. It is never easy to produce the results with so much chopping and changing and dissatisfied with the southpaw's leadership, he was released before the 2011 Auctions and went unsold before Pune Warriors (now defunct) roped in him as a replacement and even appointed him as the captain. However, he did not have much of an impact here as well.

In an interview with Sportskeeda Cricket when Kaif, who spent much of his international career under Ganguly's leadership, named the Prince of Calcutta when asked who is the best captain never to have lifted the IPL trophy.

"I think it has to be Sourav Ganguly. He did not have a long captaincy career in the IPL, but I have played under his leadership. If he captained more, he would have helped KKR become the champions because he is a master at man management," Kaif told Sportskeeda.

"In my opinion, Sourav Ganguly did not get enough opportunities to lead a team in the IPL. T20 cricket was new back then, and he was trying to understand how things work. If he got more chances, suppose if he led KKR in 4-5 or maybe 8 seasons, Ganguly would have helped KKR win 3-4 IPL trophies," he added.

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer also looked in agreement with Kaif but named Eoin Morgan as another leader who failed to replicate his international sucesss at the IPL level.

"Eoin Morgan is also such a good captain. I rate him very highly as a captain. He played a huge role in England cricket's transformation, and he has not been able to win an IPL trophy also. So, I would say Ganguly and Eoin Morgan," he stated.