Former Team India opener Gautam Gambhir, who also led Kolkata Knight Riders remarkably well in the Indian Premier League (IPL), believes Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) side led by Virat Kohli should stick with their players despite not getting best of the possible starts in the initial phase of the IPL 2020.
The southpaw said it after explaining that RCB had not remained persistent with their players which also diminished their chances of making more impact in the celebrated T20 league. He is hopeful that RCB will learn from their mistakes by making amends at the earliest.
“So, I would want to see from RCB that even if the start is not good, they should persist with their playing XI and give them 6-7 matches. Because then only the players will give you performances and not if you give one or two matches,” Gambhir said while speaking during a show on Star Sports.
In between, he said there was a lack of balance in the RCB squad when compared to this edition of the IPL squad.
While citing an example of English all-rounder, Moeen Ali, Gambhir believes even if Ali won’t fire at the beginning of the tournament they should not tinker with the side. He further remarked that it would be interesting to see how RCB will deliver — and how long Kohli will continue with a player like Ali.
“If they start with Moeen Ali, they should give him 6-7 matches. If he doesn’t perform in the beginning, they should not get in another player. So if Virat Kohli has a calmness in his mind that this is the most balanced squad, the important thing will be how they perform and how much he persists with this player,” Gambhir said.
The 38-year-old Gambhir further addressed that RCB have got a balanced squad for the IPL 13 on seeing a sense of calmness within Virat Kohli. He added that Kohli should have been involved in the team selection if he had felt that their squad was lacking fizz in terms of balance and execution of plans.
He equally asserted that at times captains don’t come to know regarding plenty of changes throughout the tourney without having an understanding of their best playing XI.
“The first thing is that Virat Kohli is the one who has been captaining RCB since 2016. So if the balance was not there earlier, then Virat Kohli should have got more involved,” Virat Kohli added.
“What Virat Kohli has said, when you are happy with your squad as a captain, you would have already planned which playing XI you want to play. If you are satisfied, then the calmness also comes along. Because there are times that you do not come to know your best XI in the entire tournament and that is why you make a lot of changes.”
Despite RCB doing much with the playing XI, Gambhir expects RCB to deliver goods in the impending IPL 2020.
RCB bowlers happy to move out of RCB’s den: Gautam Gambhir
While speaking about the batting-heavy side, Gambhir further believes RCB bowlers would be benefitted given to the conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He further believes, Bengaluru-based franchise RCB’s bowlers would be happy to not bowl at the placid surface like M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which also has shorter dimensions — and had proved difficult for the bowlers.
“I still feel that RCB look a little batting-heavy. But one thing that you will see a little different is that the bowlers will be happy because they will not have to play 7 matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“You will be playing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which probably have bigger grounds, wickets are not as flat as Chinnaswamy. It is always difficult to judge the bowlers from Chinnaswamy’s point of view,” Gambhir said.
Gautam Gambhir on the difference between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as a captain:
The cricketer-turned-politician Gambhir further analyzed the captaincy of veteran MS Dhoni and exciting Kohli. Gambhir observed that Dhoni showed enough faith in players despite their failures. In contrary, Kohli believes in many changes at regular intervals which eventually led to their downfall from time to time.
“The biggest difference between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni is that MS Dhoni persists with his players for 6-7 matches. If you see RCB’s trend, they make changes very quickly because they doubt that their playing XI does not have a proper balance,” Gambhir said on captaincy styles of Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
In Dubai, RCB will face-off Sunrisers Hyderabad on 21st of September.