Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli can’t talked about in the same league as MS Dhoni or Rohit Sharma, who have won three Indian Premier League titles.
Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL trophies in 2012 and 2014, feels that in a result-oriented franchise environment, Kohli has been “lucky” to have survived despite Royal Challengers Bangalore never winning the coveted title in his eight years as skipper.
“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 on Star Sports.
Gambhir’s comments are, of course, specific to Kohli’s success as a leader in the IPL, since he is the first captain who has led India to a Test series win on Australian soil.
“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,” Gambhir said.
“He has been a part of RCB, and captained them for the last seven to eight years. 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,” the southpaw added.
Gambhir’s last IPL season was with Delhi Daredevils, where he stepped down from captaincy midway following a miserable run. However, former skipper Sourav Ganguly felt that there should be no questions about Kohli’s captaincy.
“If you talk about Virat Kohli and keeping him as a captain, just look at what he has done. What he has done with the bat in every format of the game....absolute champion. And he deserves to be captain of RCB for whatever period of time. I am sure he will turn it around,” Ganguly said.