Gambhir dissents with the idea of Virat Kohli being the opener! States, “Imagine the amount of insecurity KL Rahul must be feeling.”
Gambhir dissents with the idea of Virat Kohli being the opener! States, “Imagine the amount of insecurity KL Rahul must be feeling.” Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir dissented the idea of Virat Kohli being the opening batsman at the upcoming T20 World Cup. Instead, he said that KL Rahul might feel insecure about his stand in the team.
After Kohli got his first T20I hundred in the Asia Cup, there are more and more people who think he should start India’s innings. In the Super Four match against Afghanistan, Kohli opened with KL Rahul. This is because Rohit Sharma decided to rest on that match day. It was Kohli’s first century in three years.
Kohli also finished the continental tournament with 276 runs in five games and a strike rate of 147.59. This made him India’s top run scorer and the second best run scorer overall. During the match against Afghanistan, he scored 122 runs without getting out.
With KL Rahul’s lousy play, more and more people come to support Kohli. But Gambhir, who worked with Rahul on the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants, said that people forget what Rahul has done over the past few years.
GG’s thoughts
“You know what happens in India? The moment someone starts doing very well… for example, when Virat Kohli scored a hundred in the last game, we all start forgetting what Rahul and Rohit have done over a long period of time,” Gambhir said on Star Sports during a virtual press conference ahead of India’s T20I series against Australia.
“When you talk about Kohli opening the batting, imagine what happens to KL Rahul? Imagine the amount of insecurity he must be feeling. Imagine if he gets a low score in the first game, there will be another debate on whether Kohli should open in the next game.”
“You don’t want your top class players in that position, especially KL Rahul who has probably got more ability than Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. Imagine KL Rahul going into the World Cup thinking, ‘what if I don’t score runs against Pakistan? What if I get replaced by Virat Kohli?’ You don’t want that.”
Gautam Gambhir also said that Rohit Sharma, the captain, would have felt the same way about his role if he hadn’t been in charge of the team.
“That’s the reason we shouldn’t entertain that question. Think from India’s point of view. Think from KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma’s point of view. Well, Rohit is the captain right now. Imagine if he was not the captain, what would he have felt? Everything falls down on KL Rahul. We should start thinking about how India can flourish, rather than certain individuals.”