Here's Why Aakash Chopra Thinks Virat Kohli Has Not Been A Successful Captain In The IPL
Published - 10 Jul 2020, 11:06 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:31 AM
Virat Kohli may have had a reasonably good captaincy record as an Indian skipper; however, when it comes to the IPL, it is the complete opposite. Since taking over as the captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2012, Virat Kohli has not guided the franchise to a single title. During his tenure as the leader, the team has made it to the finals only once, which was in 2016 where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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The RCB have enter the tournament as favourites often, boasting of some star-studded international players. Nevertheless, the franchise still fails in crucial games, including Virat Kohli, who struggles to get going despite being the highest run-getter in history. While they always have potent batsmen, it is their bowling that seems to be their Achilles heel.
On his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra explained in detail why Virat Kohli has not found success as a captain in the extravaganza. Aakash underlined that it is not one or two seasons, but each one of them and the mistakes are present for everyone to see as there are in abundance. He believes that the major thing lies in picking the wrong team.
“He [Kohli] is surely not a successful IPL captain. The team has not done well, it is actually a fact. And it is not one or two years, but many seasons. There are manifold reasons for that. First thing is that they don’t pick the correct team. If you see their squad’s strength, you can observe glaring mistakes. You can punch holes in them,” the former Indian opening batsman said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted the absence of potent fast bowlers at death and those in the middle-order. While the top-order is a powerhouse, they always have a thin bowling line-up and Yuzvendra Chahal is the only wicket-taking spinner.
“There are no fast bowlers, who will bowl at the death, who will bat at No.5 and No.6. They have never addressed these problems. It is a top-heavy batting team, always a thin bowling lineup, the same Yuzi Chahal, just the same fast bowler, that’s about it. If you don’t pick the team properly, don’t expect miracles from a captain,”
“I don’t think Virat Kohli has had that kind of support from his support staff” : Aakash Chopra
The 42-year old further added that the present Indian captain does not get the backing from his support staff to select the correct squad. Aakash cited the example of MS Dhoni, who would have recommended 3-4 players to be picked and leave the rest to the management.
“Second reason is that when the Indian team captain is the skipper of your franchise, you don’t stretch his bandwidth beyond a point. This is with regards to once again the squad selection. The other people need to do a very good job at the time of squad selection,”
“I am sure MS Dhoni would have given the CSK management a list of 3-4 players to be picked and left the rest to the support staff, when he was the Indian captain,”
Aakash mentioned a captain cannot spoonfeed the management into selecting good players and that Virat Kohli needs a competent support staff in this regard.
“It is almost impossible for you to sit in the auction and spoon feed the management to pick a particular team. You have to support him, I don’t think Kohli has had that kind of support from his support staff,” he added.
