'Don't see him as a tactful captain'
Cricket superstar Virat Kohli has been blasted by former teammate Gautam Gambhir over his captaincy on the eve of the Indian Premier League.
The rare criticism comes as Kohli gets set to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore into cricket's richest tournament beginning on March 23.
Gambhir made the judgement call on Indian broadcaster Star Sports on Wednesday when he was asked to analyse Kohli's captaincy in the T20 league.
"Still a long way to go. I don't see him as a shrewd captain. I don't see him as a tactful captain. And he hasn't won the IPL. So ultimately, a captain is only as good as his record," Gambhir said.
"There are people who have won the trophy three times … MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. So I think he has a long way to go.
"You cannot compare him to someone like Rohit or Dhoni at this stage because he has been part of RCB, and captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years, and he has been very lucky and should be thanking the franchise that they stuck with him because not many captains have got such a long rope where they haven't won a tournament."
Kohli's record with Bangalore stands at 44 wins and 47 losses. He has been captain since 2012 but his team have made the playoffs just twice.
Gambhir conceded Bangalore's bowling department had frequently let them down.
That was against a batting lineup led by Kohli and with the likes of West Indian star Chris Gayle and South African great AB de Villiers often at his side.
Comments