Virat Kohli needs to prove mantle as captain, says Sunil Gavaskar


Virat Kohli needs to prove mantle as captain, says Sunil Gavaskar

virat kohli emotional message for ms dhoni

Virat Kohli

Veteran cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels that Virat Kohli needs to win World Cups to prove his legacy as captain of the Indian cricket team.

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The 71-year-old also blamed the absence of No. 4 as the reason behind team India exit from the 2019 World Cup.

Virat Kohli is already one of the successful captains in Indian cricket history but the area for the World Cup trophy in his trophy cabinet is still empty.

“A captain is defined by the world championships/world cups that he wins. You can win the Asia Cup which is fantastic, but you also want to win World Cups because that is where you’re standing as a captain is going to be enhanced,” Gavaskar said on the latest episode of India Today E-Inspiration.

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We need to look at to have someone at No. 4 position: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar

The former India opener also elucidated the reason behind for not heaving the 50 over World Cup trophy in England last year. He said that team needed a proper batsman at No. 4.

“India’s top-3 batting lineup is such a fabulous batting lineup that often it has happened that numbers 4 and 5 at the initial stages of the World Cups haven’t got the opportunity to play long innings, to get their eye in,” Gavaskar said.

“Suddenly when your top-3 are dismissed cheaply, and that can happen in the odd match, unfortunately for India, it has happened in a knockout game and that is where number 4, 5 and 6 haven’t been able to cope with the loss of your earlier prolific batsmen.”

“What we need to look at is to have somebody at 4, 5 and 6 who are very good batsmen, who would otherwise bat at the top but because 1, 2 and 3 are occupied they are batting in the middle-order. We made a mistake by not having a proper No. 4 at the 2019 World Cup. If we had had a proper No. 4 for the World Cup then it might have been a completely different story,” he added.

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Also read: IPL 2020: Virat Kohli reaches Dubai