The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir feels that Team India has done well under Virat Kohli's captaincy in ODI and Test formats and pointed out that he had never questioned Kohli's captaincy in either of these two formats.
However ever since Ajinkya Rahane led Team India to a historic Test series win in Australia, Kohli's future as the captain in the longest format has been in debate with cricket fans as well as few pundits want Ajinkya Rahane to take over as captain.
Reflecting on the same, Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli a brilliant leader and the Test team will continue to grow under his captaincy and said that he never doubted Virat Kohli’s captaincy in 50-over or Test matches.
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"I have always had question marks over his T20 captaincy but I never had question marks on his 50-over or Test match captaincy. India has done very well under his leadership especially in red-ball cricket and I am sure India will continue to grow further under his leadership," Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports Game Plan.
Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir further believes that Team India isn't dependent on one or two players and said Kohli will be as happy as the rest of the squad.
"India was never dependent on one or two people and Virat Kohli has said that time and time again. Yes, Virat Kohli is the leader and I am sure he is going to be as happy as the rest of the squad as well. He has done really well in Test cricket,” said Gautam Gambhir.
Addressing the upcoming series against England Gambhir said that Kohli will be an important member of the team as he would be fresh after the paternity leave.
"One important person is obviously Virat Kohli because he is going to come back fresh. He is going to come back happy as well. I am sure he has probably experienced the best phase of his life because once you have a little one, nothing can beat that. The leader needs to be fresh and happy," he said.
According to Gambhir, given the context of the series, runs against England will be as important as against Australia for Virat Kohli.
"As any cricketer would say, it is not about hundreds. It is about the runs you can score to make your team win.
For Virat Kohli it really does not matter that he has not batted in Australia, obviously, he would have loved to but the most important thing is that he is going to look forward to the England series and he knows how important the series is to qualify for the World Test Championship final," he concluded.
The four-match Test series between India and England will still start from 5th February. The first two Tests of the four-match Test series will be played in Chennai and then both teams will travel to Ahmedabad for the final two Tests.
(Star Sports Inputs)
