Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is broadly recognized for his honest and hard-hitting statements. He often speaks straight from the shoulder. Now Gambhir has once again given a glimpse of his bold attitude while chatting in a Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’.
During the chat, Gambhir fired shots at current Indian skipper Virat Kohli saying he has a lot to achieve as captain. The former Delhi opener likened Kohli to legendary players like Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis. He said they also accomplished many individual records but were not part of successful trophy-winning sides.
“It is a team sport. You can keep scoring your own runs. There are people like Brian Lara, who have scored so many runs. There are people like Jacques Kallis who have won nothing. Virat Kohli at the moment has won nothing, to be honest as a leader. He has a lot to achieve,” said Gambhir.
“You can keep scoring those big runs, but in my opinion, till you win those big trophies you will never be able to fulfill your entire career,” he added.
However, Gambhir appreciated Kohli for his quality of rotating the strikes. While drawing a comparison of Kohli with Indian opener Rohit Sharma, the cricketer-turned-politician said that Rohit doesn’t rotate the strike in a manner as Kohli does. Gambhir stated that this is why Kohli is a much better and consistent batsman than Rohit. Gambhir also took examples of AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle.
“Even Rohit Sharma does not have that quality which Virat Kohli has, to rotate the strike. Rohit Sharma has the ability to hit the big shots, but that is why Virat Kohli is more consistent than Rohit Sharma. Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers also do not have the ability to rotate strike off each delivery against spin bowling. Virat Kohli has that, which is why he is so successful,” Gambhir added further.
