Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli might become an even more dangerous batsman in limited-overs cricket after losing India’s ODI captaincy. The BCCI on Wednesday named Rohit Sharma as India’s new ODI skipper as Virat Kohli was relieved from the captaincy duties in limited-overs cricket.
Virat Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms with the bat over the last 2 years. Kohli last hit a hundred in 2019. However, At the age of 33, Kohli remains one of the fittest players around. His work ethic, willingness to improve his game are some of the attributes that are second to none.
“Same as Rohit Sharma’s role in red-ball cricket, it’s just that captaincy is not there. It might just free Virat Kohli up much more. He might just become more dangerous in white-ball cricket with the pressure of captaincy not being there on his shoulders,” Gambhir said during an interaction on the Star Sports show Follow the Blues.
“I am sure he is going to make India proud, he is going to keep getting runs in white-ball cricket or in red-ball cricket. At the same time, there will be two different guys probably giving their own thoughts, giving their own vision for the team.”
Gambhir further stated that despite losing the ODI captaincy, there will be no drop in the intensity with which Virat Kohli plays the game.
“I am sure India will see the best of Virat Kohli, whether it is red-ball cricket or white-ball cricket. At the same time, the kind of passion he has shown over such a long period of time or the energy, you are going to see the same out of Virat Kohli, whether he is the captain or not.”
