Gautam Gambhir questions Virat Kohli’s credentials as captain after RCB’s exit from IPL 2020

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir said that it’s high time for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to look beyond Virat Kohli as their skipper. The 32-year-old Kohli has been their captain since 2013 and hasn’t been able to win the title for his team in eight years.

RCB’s best performance under Virat came in 2016 when they qualified for the final where Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat them. Gambhir, who is the two-time IPL winner with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), mentioned that Kohli should hold himself accountable for the Challengers’ lacklustre run over the years.

“It’s not only about one year, it’s not only about this. I have nothing against Virat Kohli but somewhere down the line, he needs to put his hand up and say, ‘yes, I am responsible. I am accountable’,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

There should not be different yardsticks for different people, says Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir also put forth Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni’s example to highlight the reasons for persisting with a skipper over a long period of time.

“Eight years is a long, long time. Look at what happened to R Ashwin. Two years of captaincy [for the Kings XI Punjab], he couldn’t deliver and he was removed. We talk about MS Dhoni, we talk about Rohit Sharma, we talk about Virat Kohli…not at all,” he stated.

“Dhoni has won three [IPL] titles, Rohit Sharma has won four titles, and that’s the reason they’ve captained for such a long time because they’ve delivered. I’m sure if Rohit Sharma wouldn’t have delivered for eight years, he would have been removed as well. There should not be different yardsticks for different people,” Gambhir added.

On Friday, November 6, RCB bowed out of the tournament after their six-wicket defeat at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator. At the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, RCB, after being put in to bat first, could only manage 131 runs.

AB de Villiers scored a gutsy half-century, but couldn’t propel his team to a big score. In the run-chase, the Challengers made some early breakthroughs. But calm heads from Kane Williamson and Jason Holder denied them a victory.