IPL 2019: Gautam Gambhir severely criticizes Virat Kohli's IPL captaincy

What's the story?

Former Indian cricketer and two-time IPL winning captain, Gautam Gambhir blasted RCB skipper Virat Kohl's captaincy in the Indian Premier League.

In case you didn't know...

Virat Kohli was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for USD 50,000 during the inaugural edition of the IPL back in 2008. He is the only player to have played for the same franchise in all the eleven editions of the cash-rich league so far. The Delhiite has been phenomenal with the bat in the IPL having amassed 4948 runs 163 matches at a strike-rate of 130.76.

The current Indian skipper took over the captaincy reins at RCB during the 2013 IPL (sixth edition). Under Virat Kohli, the Bangalore-based franchise has won 44 out of 96 matches with a winning percentage of 45.83.

The heart of the matter

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir blasted RCB skipper Virat Kohli's captaincy in the IPL. The former Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Kolkata Knight Riders skipper said, "I don’t see him as a shoot captain or a tactful captain. And he hasn’t won the IPL. So ultimately a captain is only as good as his record till the time you don’t win the IPL. 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.

Gambhir further added, "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 rather thank the franchise that they stuck to him because not many captains have got such a long run where they haven’t won a tournament".

What's next?

In spite of performing well all these years, the Royal Challengers have failed to lay hands on the glittering IPL trophy having finished as the runners-up, thrice. Under Kohli, RCB entered the playoffs twice (2015 and 2016) but couldn't go all the way.

They will begin their 2019 IPL campaign against Chennai Super Kings in the season opener on March 23rd. Can Kohli finally have an IPL title to his name? Let's wait and watch!

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