Former Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar on Monday said that after Virat Kohli took as the captain of the Indian Cricket team, the team has lost test series and naturally questions will be raised against him. He also added that after MS Dhoni who was a cool, calm and collected captain there is Kohli who has a very different approach towards winning.
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A day later when Indian Cricket team lost to England by 60 runs, Sunil Gavaskar said: “Everybody would be disappointed looking at the result because when Virat Kohli took over as captain, it seemed like the team would head into a new direction under him. The team looked hungry to win and seemed more hopeful of doing well under Kohli. Everyone thought that he will bring in a lot more josh, a lot more energy into the team. So quite naturally, there will be questions asked about his captaincy,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
“Everybody knew that the three toughest series for India was going to be in South Africa, England and the forthcoming Australia tour. Before this all that India played were more like practice tours in Sri Lanka and West Indies,” added Gavaskar.
“Even the way in which India came back to beat Australia in the Test series last year after losing the first match, that gave us the impression that India wouldn’t back down to any challenge under captain Kohli. It seemed India would always play with their heads held high. But the captain is only as good as his team. As a batsman, Kohli has lived up to the expectations and even more. He has done everything possible as a batsman,” said Gavaskar.
“If only the other batsmen could have played like him. If any other batsman could have scored over 400-500 runs then India wouldn’t have lost Test series in South Africa and in England. This is like a learning curve for Kohli at the moment. Fans are bound to be disappointed as the expectations were quite high with this team. Looking at how they performed before this at home, in the West Indies and in Sri Lanka, everybody was hoping to see history being made on foreign soil,” continued Gavaskar.
However, Gavaskar refused to blame the Indian Cricket team coach, Ravi Shastri and said, “Just like the captain, a coach is only as good as his team. If the team is not able to raise its level on the field, whatever you might tell them in the changing room or off the field in terms of motivation, won’t help. You can’t blame one person for it. Questions need to be asked of those persons, those individuals who are not able to raise the level of their game rather than a coach.”
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While concluding he expressed his opinions and said that coaches can only work hard in motivating the team but can’t play from the changing room for them, “The coaches are doing their best, they are working very hard. They can’t play for them from the changing room. They can only hope that what they have told the players is something that they will implement. If the players don’t understand then I don’t think that the coaching staff is to be blamed,” said Gavaskar.