New Delhi, March 2: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly on Thursday, March 2, backed current incumbent Virat Kohli after the humiliating 333-run loss against Australia in the first cricket Test match at Pune.

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Ganguly complimented Kohli, who scored 0 and 13 on the difficult Pune track, by comparing him with Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli has been extremely successful against Australia in their own backyard and Ganguly opined that even Tendulkar would have found it difficult to match the current Indian skipper's record against perhaps the most difficult team in the world.

"Kohli is human and he had to fail one day. He failed in both innings in Pune. I think he played a little bit of a loose shot in the first innings outside the off stump but the Australians bowled him there," Ganguly was quoted as saying by India Today.

"To watch those four back-to-back Test match hundreds against Australia in Australia was surreal. I have not seen even Sachin Tendulkar do that," he added.

The first Test match of the four-match series finished inside three days with Australia claiming a 333-run victory as left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe took six wickets in each innings.

The visitors have now taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.

IANS