Gautam Gambhir said that he is sure nothing would have changed for Virat Kohli now that he is no longer India’s captain in all formats and the latter would be thinking in the same manner.
There should be no change for Virat Kohli now that he is no longer captain of India in any formats as the only thing that should matter is to win matches for the team, former batter Gautam Gambhir has said. Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain earlier this month, thus ending his tenure as skipper of the team in all formats.
Gautam Gambhir: Nothing Changes For Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli had earlier stepped down as T20I captain after the 2021 T20 World Cup and was then was sacked as ODI captain by BCCI, with Rohit Sharma being announced as India’s permanent white-ball captain.
“Nothing changes,” Gautam Gambhir said what he thinks changes for Virat Kohli and the Indian team management’s approach towards him.
“When you are growing up as a kid you want to try and win games for the country and that is all that matters. You don’t dream of captaining the side from day one so for me nothing changes.
“If it does then there is something seriously wrong. Captaincy is just a honour and responsibility and I’m sure Virat would be thinking the same way,” said Gautam Gambhir.
India’s recent defeat in the ODI series against South Africa and their poor showing in the T20I World Cup last year has brought the template they follow in limited-overs cricket to the fore.
Virat Kohli scored two half-century scores in his first international series as a player in seven-year, during the three-match ODI contest in South Africa. India, however, lost 3-0, where KL Rahul had led the team in injured Rohit Sharma’s absence as the latter failed to recover from his hamstring injury.
Virat Kohli will next feature in the white-ball series at home against West Indies starting February 6. India will play three ODIs in Ahmedabad followed by as many T20Is in Kolkata.
Gautam Gambhir: Only Template Is To Score The Winning Run And Take Last Wicket
Gautam Gambhir however said that he doesn’t believe in templates and he won’t be insisting on one for the Lucknow Super Giants in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), for which he is the team mentor.
“I’ve always thought of only one template which is to score the last run if you are chasing and take the last wicket if your defending. As simple as that, there is no other template that makes sense to me. All these are created by the media, the finisher, opener, death bowler and all.”
“Cricket is a very simple game. All of us would want that when we are chasing a total, we should score the last run and if we are defending, we should take the last wicket and take the points in our kitty. That is all that matters and the only template. Templates are very overrated,” he said.
BCCI plans to start the IPL 2022 on March 27, almost a week ahead of the planned start of the extravagant tournament. Lucknow Super Giants roped in KL Rahul for INR 17 crores followed by Marcus Stoinis for INR 9.2 crores and uncapped Ravi Bishnoi for INR 4 crores. Lucknow Super Giants will enter the IPL 2022 Mega Auction with a purse value of INR 59.89 crores.