Virat Kohli and his team came under scanner after they lost back to back two series against New Zealand. Virat Kohli, who has been going through a rough time lately, failed to deliver the best of his abilities throughout the game, was criticized badly for his performances.
Former cricketers like Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and many more had come out and talked about Virat Kohli’s form. While Kapil Dev felt it was due to age factor, on the other hand, Virender Sehwag had stated that there was no eye-hand coordination in Virat’s performance.
Now former Indian cricketer and world cup hero Gautam Gambhir has come out in support of Virat Kohli and has expressed his disappointment over how Indian media and some former cricketers reacted to Team India’s defeat against New Zealand.
In his column for Times Of India, Gautam Gambhir wrote how he felt sad by how Virat Kohli and his team were targetted. He wrote:
“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,”
He added:
“Prithvi Shaw was touring New Zealand in India colours 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.”
Gautam Gambhir also criticized the management for not retaining KL Rahul, who has been in an impeccable form off-lately, in Test series. Gambhir also praised Ishant Sharma and stated how India missed the experience of Ishant Sharma. He wrote:
“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, ”
