Mohammad Azharuddin is the best skipper to have led the Indian cricket team, says Arjuna Ranatunga

The veteran left-hander, who is a World Cup winning skipper for Sri Lanka, picked Mohammad Azaharuddin as India's best skipper till date.

New Delhi: Former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, who also led his team to a World Cup triumph in 1996, reckons that Mohammad Azharuddin was the best skipper to have led the Indian cricket team.

Ranatunga, under whose captaincy Sri Lanka defeated Azhar's men in Blue in 1996 World Cup heaped massive praise on the Hyderabadi cricketer saying he was a shrewd captain.

“Mohammad Azharuddin was the best captain to lead India. He was a shrewd leader. I have really fond memories of this city. Even though I haven’t played at this lovely ground, I have played at the old ground (Lal Bahadur Stadium) where I got a quick-fire 90 against India in a One-Day international. Those were lovely days,” Ranatunga was quoted as saying by the Sportstar Live.

The left-hander's comments came during a felicitation programme held by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), during the match between local side Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.

Talking about some of the legends of the Indian cricket, Ranatunga added, “Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar etc. The list will go on and on. These players were not only rivals on the field but very good friends off it. I have been friends with them for so many years even after leaving the game.”

When asked about a message for aspiring cricketers, Ranatunga said that the youth should focus on playing for the country and not run after money.

“Whatever a young cricketer does, he should do it properly. There should be total commitment from him for the team’s cause. It’s a great honour to play for the country and a youngster should focus on representing the country rather than thinking of making money,” he said.

Ahead of the SRH-KKR match, Ranatunga was felicitated by HCA president G Vivekanand secretary T Shesh Narayan.