Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli is successful in international captaincy because of the presence of the top captains Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.
Virat Kohli is one of the very successful captains in Indian cricket history. Under his leadership, India have achieved many successes in every format. In the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Kohli-led India played very well and finished as the semifinalist.
However, Kohli isn’t much successful as captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Since 2011, Kohli has led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 110 IPL matches where his team has won 49 matches and lost 55 matches. Though Kohli-led RCB finished as the runners-up in IPL 2016, it was one of their rare performances in the recent time.
Gautam Gambhir feels that the captain Virat Kohli is still has a long way to go. He also believes that Kohli’s international captaincy success is due to the presence of the top leaders like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.
Gambhir recently claimed, “Still a long way to go for him. Kohli was very good in the last World Cup but he has a long way to go. He captains so well in international cricket because he has got Rohit Sharma, he had MS Dhoni for a long time. Captaincy credentials are noticed when you are leading a franchise, when you do not have other players supporting you.”
Gautam Gambhir pointed out IPL captaincy successes of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni is one of the top successful captains in world cricket history. Under his captaincy, India won the ICC World T20 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Also, Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have won three IPL trophies (2010, 2011 and 2018) and two Champions League T20 trophies (2010 and 2014).
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has also achieved many great successes as a captain. Under his captaincy, Mumbai Indians (MI) have won the record four IPL trophies (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019) and one Champions League T20 trophy (2013).
Gautam Gambhir has pointed out those successes when he spoke about Virat Kohli’s captaincy skills.
Gambhir added, “I have been honest whenever I have spoken about this. See what Rohit Sharma has achieved for Mumbai Indians, see what Dhoni has achieved for Chennai Super Kings. If you compare that with RCB, the results are there for everyone to see.”
Gautam Gambhir was also a successful captain in IPL history. Under his captaincy, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won two IPL trophies (2012 and 2014).