RCB have had India’s greatest cricketer for the last 11 years. Every year they are talked about as the favorites to win the IPL. After all, they have Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, two of the greatest batsmen of their generation.
What’s more – they had Chris Gayle for many, many seasons before he was let go last season. The Universe Boss became a household name across the cricketing world through his exploits for RCB – but he never won anything for them.
When you have three of the greatest batsmen of the past 10 to 15 years and still win nothing, there has to be something wrong with you. What is it, exactly?
Does it have to do with Virat’s captaincy? Nobody can fault Virat for his passion and commitment to the cause, but he is clearly not the sort of captain who inspires less talented cricketers than himself to turn in match winning performances.
Virat, unfortunately, tends to believe that he and his mate AB de Villiers can do everything by themselves, but that’s not how cricket works.
Cricket is a team game. To win IPL, you need contributions from at least 8 to 10 players, not just 1 or 2. Sure, 1 or 2 players can win an odd match or two, but to win a tournament that stretches for 2 months, you need contributions from everyone.
That’s just not happening with the RCB.
Gautam Gambhir is one of the most successful captains in IPL, having won it twice for KKR. He is now retired and a highly respected cricket expert. He is also one of those rare experts who is not afraid to speak his mind.
He is blunt and honest, and recently did the unthinkable: he criticized Virat Kohli. That never happens in India!
Gambhir told The Times of India, “I don’t see him as a shrewd captain. I don’t see him as a tactful captain (tactician). And he hasn’t won the IPL. So ultimately, a captain is only as good as his record.”
“There are people who have won the trophy three times. MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. So I think he has a long way to go. You cannot compare him to someone like Rohit or Dhoni at this stage,” he added.
“He has been a part of RCB, and captaining RCB for the last seven to eight years, and he has been very lucky and should be thanking the franchise that they stuck with him. Because not many captains have got such a long rope where they haven’t won a tournament,” Gambhir concluded.
Gambhir’s comments became the talk of the town among Indian cricketing fans. Many said he was jealous of Kohli, while others said that they agreed with him totally.
Sourav Ganguly, one of Indian cricket’s most respected former players, defended Virat, saying, “If you talk about Virat Kohli and keeping him as a captain, just look at what he has done. What he has done with the bat in every format of the game. Absolute champion. And he deserves to be captain of RCB for whatever period of time. I am sure he will turn it around.”
Clearly, RCB will be all about Virat this season of the IPL. They will be watched closely. But their personnel are pretty much the same as last season. Apart from Virat and ABD, and maybe Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, we can’t see even one stand-out performer.
RCB starting XI: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Akshdeep Nath, Colin de Grandhomme/Tim Southee, Washington Sundar/Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Others members of the RCB squad: Devdutt Padikkal, Heinrich Klaasen, Himmat Singh, Pawan Negi, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Prayas Barman, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Navdeep Saini
Prediction: Another disappointing IPL for Virat and the RCB ?
