Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got knocked out of the IPL 2020, courtesy a six-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator at Abu Dhabi on Friday (November 6).
RCB posted just 131, which SRH chased down with two balls to spare. This outcome meant the Virat Kohli-led side will have to wait at least one more season for their maiden IPL trophy.
After the match, former India opener Gautam Gambhir opined that it’s high time RCB sack Kohli as a captain.
Asked if Virat should be removed from RCB's captaincy, Gambhir told 'ESPNCricinfo', "100 per cent, because the problem is about accountability. Eight years into the tournament (without a trophy), eight years is a long time.
"Tell me any other captain…forget about captain, tell me any other player who would have got eight years and wouldn't have won the title and would have still continued with it.
"So it has to be accountability," Gambhir, who led KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, said on the show 'Time Out'.
Gambhir, who has previously criticized Kohli's IPL captaincy, also clarified that there is nothing personal.
"...but somewhere down the line, he needs to put his hand up and say, 'yes, I am responsible. I am accountable'."
He further gave the example of Kings XI Punjab, who sacked Ravichandran Ashwin after the off-spinner failed to deliver as captain for just two seasons.
"Eight years is a long, long time. Look at what happened to R Ashwin. Two years of captaincy (for the Kings XI Punjab), he couldn't deliver and he was removed."
According to Gambhir, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have retained their captaincy for so long because both of them have delivered.
"We talk about MS Dhoni, we talk about Rohit Sharma, we talk about Virat Kohli...not at all. Dhoni has won three (IPL) titles, Rohit Sharma has won four titles, and that's the reason they've captained for such a long time because they've delivered.
"I'm sure if Rohit Sharma wouldn't have delivered for eight years, he would have been removed as well. There should not be different yardsticks for different people."
Gambhir feels Kohli needs to take the blame for RCB’s failures over the years.
"You're the leader, you're the captain. When you get the credit, you should take the criticism as well."
He even went to the extent of saying that RCB did not deserve to qualify for the play-offs after four consecutive defeats.
"You can keep saying 'we qualified for the playoffs and we deserved to qualify for the playoffs', absolutely not. RCB actually never deserved to qualify for the playoffs."
Gambhir said RCB has increasingly become a side about only two people - Kohli and AB de Villiers.
"And then they should have had a squad, probably if Virat wanted to open, they should have picked a middle-order batter in the auction. But again it was all about Virat and AB (de Villiers)."
"Imagine if AB would have had a bad season, tell me what would have happened to RCB," Gambhir said.
"He was the one who actually won them two or three games out of seven. I don't think as a unit they've done anything different from what they did last year. It's exactly the same this year as well.
"Only because you've qualified for the playoffs, just because of one individual's absolute brilliance, it doesn't make you a strong contender to win the IPL," he concluded.
