Former Indian Opener and two-times world cup winner Gautam Gambhir has backed the Indian skipper Virat Kohli after India was clean swept in Test Matches and One Day Internationals. The Indian captain Virat Kohli and pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah didn’t have a fruitful tour to New Zealand and were criticized by the fans and critics.
Gautam Gambhir who had a great tour of New Zealand in 2009 where he saved a test match in Napier with VVS Laxman in his column expressed disappointment in the way Virat Kohli was criticized and the team was targetted after the series in New Zealand.
“I was once again disappointed by the way critics went after Virat Kohli and his men after the 2-0 Test series loss against New Zealand. Everything was questioned. Selection choices, the atmosphere in the dressing room, Jasprit Bumrah’s sharpness, or the lack of it, and even Virat Kohli’s eyesight,” wrote the 38-year-old in his column in Times Of India.
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He also went on to support the young opener Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal as he wrote both of them batted well in the absence of the experienced Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
“Prithvi Shaw was touring New Zealand in India colors for the first time. Mayank Agarwal is not too old in the piece. In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, the dependency on Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were way too much. In the end, the conditions proved way too challenging.”
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The left-handed batsman who retired from cricket in 2018 turned politician in 2019 where he became the member of the parliament also wrote tat India missed the services of the experienced Ishant Sharma who was ruled out off the series after injuring himself. He was also of the thought that the team should have given KL Rahul a chance in the test team.
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“Our bowling department was well-served especially with Ishant Sharma returning, though, unfortunately, he ended up getting injured. If anything, I was disappointed to see them playing with four bowlers. As I wrote in the past as well, India should always play with five specialist bowlers. Apart from this, they should have retained KL Rahul in the Test team,” added Gambhir.
Gambhir was also hopeful that India will come back strong in the series against South Africa and will put up a good performance against Proteas.
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