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 remove Kohli as a captain since he has failed to deliver after being at the helm of affairs for eight years.
However, Gambhir’s long-time Delhi and India teammate Virender Sehwag doesn’t agree with him.
WATCH - "We're heading in the right direction", Kohli addresses RCB players post IPL exit
According to Sehwag, Kohli is a fine captain who is being let down by an unbalanced team and that sacking him is not going to solve the team’s woes.
“A captain is only as good as his team. When Virat Kohli captains India, he is able to deliver the results. He wins matches – ODIs, T20Is Tests. But when he captains RCB, his team is not able to perform,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
“It is very important for the captain to have a good team. So, I believe the management should not try and think of changing their captain and rather think of how they can improve this team. Who all should be added to the team to make sure their performance improves?”
RCB were outstanding in the first half, winning 7 out of their 10 games but the team failed to carry the momentum in the business end of the tournament, losing five successive matches.
Sehwag believes RCB need a quality opener along with a decent lower-order batsman in order to have a settled batting unit.
“Every team has a settled batting order but RCB have never had that. It’s only ABD and Virat, who keep shuffling up and down the order,” he remarked. “With Padikkal coming to the fore, I reckon RCB need to have one more opener and a good lower-order batsman. These five batsmen should be enough to win them matches. The same way, they’d have to trust their Indian fast bowlers. Everyone gets taken to the cleaners. It’s not as if Rabada, Morris and others haven’t been taken for runs.”
