Virat Kohli Should Look To Score Runs, That Is More Important - Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that Virat Kohli’s role in the team doesn’t change just because he is not the captain of the Indian team in any format anymore.

Having given up Test captaincy as well on Saturday, Kohli will now be playing under a new captain in all three formats. However, this doesn’t change the fact that he is still important to the team as his batsmanship is what the team needs now.

“What new do you want to see? Captaincy is not anyone’s birthright. People like MS Dhoni have given the captaincy baton to Kohli, he has played under Kohli as well. He has won three ICC trophies and four IPL trophies as well. I think Kohli should look to score runs and that is more important.”

“When you dream of playing for India, you don’t dream to become a captain. You dream of winning games for India and nothing changes, except that you are not going out there to do the toss and set the field placement, but your energy and intensity should remain the same because it’s an honor playing for the country,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

“Scoring runs, anchoring the innings” – Gautam Gambhir on Kohli’s role

Gambhir mentioned that Kohli’s role in the white-ball formats will continue to be the same and he will have to play the role of an anchor while the other explosive batters in the team can play their natural game.

“Exactly the same what he had when he was captaining the side. Batting at No. 3, scoring lots and lots of runs, and probably anchoring the innings as well. When Rohit Sharma comes in with KL Rahul at the top of the order, Kohli’s role doesn’t change one bit.”

“As I just mentioned apart from not going for the toss and setting the field placements, rest everything remains the same. He has got to bat at No.3, he has got to score a lot of runs in white-ball cricket. So I am sure, I think nothing changes,” Gambhir added.

Rohit Sharma is India’s new white-ball captain while the red-ball captain will be announced by BCCI in the near future.

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