IPL 2019: Gautam Gambhir takes another aim at Virat Kohli's captaincy

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has once again taken an aim at Virat Kohli’s captaincy as the latter continues his struggle in the ongoing Indian Premier League. Before the start of the competition, Gambhir had caused a stir in the cricketing fraternity by publicly criticizing Kohli’s captaincy. Gambhir had taken a shot at Kohli, saying that he is not a good tactician and had also claimed that his former India teammate should consider himself lucky for retaining the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kohli, however, has so far failed to prove Gambhir wrong. In six matches of the season so far, the Royal Challengers are yet to open their account and are on the verge of exiting the competition prematurely. What has further raised eyebrows is the manner of defeats. Neither batsmen nor the bowlers have managed to put up consistent performances and the poor effort by the fielders have only made things worse.

The Royal Challengers started their competition by getting bowled out for just 70 against Chennai Super Kings. One game later, they conceded 231 against Sunrisers Hyderabad before failing to defend 205 at their home against Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous outing. It should be noted that before the start of the IPL, Kohli’s India had also lost the T20I and ODI series against Australia at home.

With Kohli’s fortunes as captain showing no signs of improving, Gambhir has now said that while the current India skipper is a master batsman he is an ‘apprentice’ as a captain and has lots to learn. “While Virat Kohli the batsman is an absolute master, Virat Kohli the captain is an apprentice. He has loads to learn. Rather than blaming the bowlers he should take the blame on himself,” he wrote in his column in The Times of India.

Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, also explained that Kohli and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s problems begin from the auction table last December. “I would start with last year’s auction where they messed up. Why did they go for Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile if they knew these players were not available from the start? At a small venue like the Chinnaswamy, where the wicket is flat, I would have gone with an out-and-out fast bowler,” he explained.

More criticism

Gambhir pointed out several instances from Royal Challengers’ defeat against Knight Riders to claim that Kohli still has to learn a lot as captain. He explained a moment from the match when he analyzed how Tim Southee continuously kept changing his plans.

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