Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has heaped praise on Virat Kohli for his brilliant run of form. The current Indian captain scored over 558 runs in 6 ODI games in South Africa and established his name among the true greats of the world, if he hadn’t already.

And in a chat with India Today, Ganguly lauded Kohli’s genius with the bat, insisting that his burst of form is more than just a purple patch.

"Kohli is a flag bearer of Indian cricket. I have seen a lot of purple patches including mine, Dravid's and Sachin Tendulkar's. I genuinely believe that this is not just a purple patch for Kohli, this is genuine greatness."

As a captain, no Indian player has batted quite like how Kolhi has ever since taking over the reins of the team. And Ganguly admitted it, comparing Kohli to the likes of Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni.

"I have seen MS Dhoni as captain, I have seen Rahul Dravid as captain but I have never seen anyone perform this consistently with the bat as captain as Kohli has," Ganguly further added.

Despite winning against South Africa in South Africa, India couldn’t trump the Proteas in the Test series. The Prince of Calcutta, however, believes that overseas test series wins will come, before adding that India’s upcoming tour of Australia and England will show what kind of a captain the Delhi man is.  

"Kohli has done brilliantly. Overseas Test series wins will come - the only places he has captained India in full series are West Indies and South Africa.

"The next two series in Australia and England will define him as a captain. He has got the ability. The best thing he does as a captain is that he leads by example. Look at the hundreds he got against South Africa.”

Dada also advised the team to depart for the tours early and play some practice games before the series officially begins.  

For the two series against England and Australia, Kohli and the team needs to go early. Play a couple of side games before getting into the series," Ganguly conluded.