Former Indian cricketer and World Cup hero Gautam Gambhir has slammed Indian skipper Virat Kohli after India’s 8-wicket defeat against New Zealand last night. India have had one of their worst ever starts in the ongoing tournament on the back of crushing defeats to arch-rivals Pakistan in the first match, followed by this defeat by New Zealand cricket team last night. This was India’s second consecutive win in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
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Team India has been receiving criticism from all over because of their poor performance in the game. Several former cricketers and experts have given their opinions about India’s performance. The latest one to join the bandwagon is former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir.
Meanwhile, speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Gautam Gambhir lashed out at Kohli for his excessively reactive temperament and in-your-face attitude at all times as a huge drawback in the captain’s armor. Gambhir also criticised Kohli for his leadership demeanour during the two games India has played in the game so far.
Gambhir also compared Kohli’s attitude to that of New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson. Gambhir also highlighted that the pressure on both India and New Zealand was equal before coming into the game, however, it was the attitude that made all the difference.He said:
“New Zealand was exactly in the same position as India today. So they had an equal amount of pressure. I mean, it starts with the leader as well. [For New Zealand] it starts with Kane, the calmness. You don’t have to be on the face all the time. You don’t have to show your emotions [always], sometimes just your positivity and calmness can be equally positive [for] the group as well. Just by reacting to everything doesn’t mean that you are more passionate than someone else,”
He added:
“Kane doesn’t react to everything but look at the calmness. Sometimes in these crunch games, it’s your calmness that’s much more important than probably your enthusiasm or reaction to everything,”
Talking about the points table, India is currently sitting at fifth place behind Namibia in Group 2 of the Super 12s and to make matter even worse, India has a net run rate (NRR) of -1.609. India needs nothing more than a miracle to qualify for the semi-finals.
