Sehwag Backs Under-fire Kohli Amid Captaincy Debate

Amid the debate over leadership in the Bangalore team, Former India opener Virender Sehwag backed Virat Kohli and opined that the franchise should think of improving the team and retain Kohli as captain. Following Bangalore’s exit from Dream 11 IPL 2020, many pundits of the game including former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir and cricket commentator Sanjay Manjrekar called for a change in the leadership department.

However, Sehwag believes that a captain is as good as his team, adding that removing Virat Kohli will not solve Bangalore’s issues. Speaking on a cricket show, Sehwag urged the management to include more match-winning players in the team to remove pressure Virat and AB de Villiers.

Bangalore’s Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign came to an end on Friday night which marked yet another disappointing campaign for Kohli and co. The team could only muster 131 in the first inning, which was easily chased by Hyderabad. Kohli even failed to deliver with the bat, returning to the dugout after scoring just six in seven balls. Bangalore lost four in a row and achieved qualification only because of their superior run rate. 

While speaking after the match on Friday, Gambhir held nothing back as he spoke about Kohli needing to “take accountability” as the team’s captain. He explained that it was not just about this year, but about Kohli leading a team that has barely even made it to the playoffs in eight years.

 Gambhir, who captained Kolkata, questioned which player would have eight years to lead a team, but still not win a title. He added that he has nothing against Kohli, but needs the Indian cricket team captain to say he is responsible for their constant loss. He mentioned Ravichandran Ashwin, who was fired after two seasons with Punjab.