While RCB managed to qualify for the playoffs in the IPL 2020, their performance in the second half of the tournament was rather disappointing. On Friday, they were knocked out of the tournament by SRH, who won the eliminator by six wickets. Once again Virat Kohli’s leadership has come under the scanner, and for obvious reasons.
He has been leading the side for the last eight years, and the team has not won the title even once. More importantly, they have been very inconsistent. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir called spade a spade, and said that Kohli needs to be held accountable for their performances.
What Did Gambhir Say?
“100%, because the problem is about accountability. Eight years into the tournament [without a trophy], eight years is a long time. Tell me any other captain…forget about captain, tell me any other player who would have got eight years and wouldn’t have won the title and would have still continued with it. So it has to be accountability. A captain needs to take accountability,’ Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo.
“It’s not only about one year, it’s not only about this. I have nothing against Virat Kohli but somewhere down the line, he needs to put his hand up and say, ‘yes, I am responsible. I am accountable’.
“Eight years is a long, long time. Look at what happened to R Ashwin. Two years of captaincy [for the Kings XI Punjab], he couldn’t deliver and he was removed. We talk about MS Dhoni, we talk about Rohit Sharma, we talk about Virat Kohli…not at all. Dhoni has won three [IPL] titles, Rohit Sharma has won four titles, and that’s the reason they’ve captained for such a long time because they’ve delivered. I’m sure if Rohit Sharma wouldn’t have delivered for eight years, he would have been removed as well. There should not be different yardsticks for different people.
“The problem and the accountability starts from the top, not from the management nor the support staff, but from the leader. You’re the leader, you’re the captain. When you get the credit, you should take the criticism as well.
Kohli’s Emotional Post
RCB skipper Virat Kohli has penned down an emotional letter to fans for their love and support. Kohli and his team were eliminated from the tournament after their loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.”Together through the highs and lows. It’s been a great journey for us as a unit. Yes things did not go our way but proud of the whole group. Thank you to all our fans for your support. Your love makes us stronger. See you all soon. #PlayBold @RCBTweets,” Kohli tweeted.
After the game Kohli acknowledged that the team went through a ‘strange’ phase where they went onto lose four successive games.
“If you talk about the first innings I don’t think we had enough runs on the board. We made one helluva game in the second half, the positions we got ourselves into in the second half. But it is a game of margins and if Kane was taken there then it is a different ball game. Altogether they put us under a lot of pressure in the first innings. Few soft dismissals, few fortunate ones for them as well,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
“We just didn’t have enough runs on the board in my opinion. Maybe a bit of nerves, bit of hesitation. We had to be more expressive with the bat. We didn’t have any phases where we got away from the opposition. We allowed bowlers to bowl where they wanted to. Didn’t put them under enough pressure. We hit a few balls straight to the fielders in the last 3-4 games. It’s been a strange phase of 4-5 games for us. Tonight, just didn’t have enough.”
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