MS Dhoni would have nothing to do with ‘knee-jerk’ changes against New Zealand: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir not happy with Virat Kohli's strategies.

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Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni
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Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI and Getty Images)

The ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 has been nothing short of horrendous for Team India. Having suffered humiliating defeats in their first two fixtures, the Men in Blue are virtually out of the semi-final race and only have an outside chance of going through. If only India win their remaining three games with massive margins and other match results fall in their favour, they can qualify.

However, it isn’t likely to happen. For the unversed, India lost to arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets in their opening game. While they were expected to bounce back against the Kiwis, India put up another dismal and lost the game by eight wickets. It has to be noted that India made some significant changes in their line-up for the New Zealand game.

While Shardul Thakur replaced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan was surprisingly sent to open alongside KL Rahul. Hence, Rohit Sharma came to out to bat at number three and Kohli batted at four. As India’s top order couldn’t do much, the Indian team management faced massive criticism over their ‘bizzare’ ploy. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is among many to call out Kohli for going with such tactics.

Virat Kohli has never impressed me as a strategist: Gautam Gambhir

Asserting that Kohli has never impressed him as a strategist, the cricketer-turned-politician opined MS Dhoni, who is Team India’s mentor for the competition, won’t have suggested the ‘knee-jerk’ changes against Kane Williamson’s side.  “Kohli has never impressed me as a strategist. Once again, he was a disappointment on Sunday. For starters, why did he change the team from the one that played against Pakistan?” Gambhir wrote in his column for the Times of India.

“If that was not enough, he also changed the batting order and had Ishan Kishan open in place of Rohit. I have played long enough with MS Dhoni to know that he would have nothing to do with these knee-jerk changes just after one game. And what I also understand is that the other support staff hardly challenge Kohli’s calls,” he added.

Meanwhile, India’s next assignment is against Afghanistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (November 3). Although the Men in Blue have very little chance of going through,  they need to win this game by a massive margin to keep their hopes alive.

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