'8 Years A Long Time, RCB Should Remove Virat Kohli As Captain': Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli should be removed from the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gambhir said that 8 years is a long time and if the team fails to win a single title in this period, then the captain should be held accountable.

Photo Courtesy: Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets/ Twitter)

The IPL journey of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), captained by Virat Kohli, ended on Friday. Kohli's dream of winning the trophy was shattered once again as he lost the IPL 2002 Eliminator match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Virat Kohli took full captaincy of RCB in 2013. Since then, under his leadership, the team reached the final only once in 2016, but could not win the title.

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir feels that Virat Kohli should be removed from the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gambhir said that 8 years is a long time and if the team fails to win a single title in this period, then the captain should be held accountable.

Star opener Gambhir, who made Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) a two-time IPL champion, in a live interaction with ESPNCricinfo, when asked if he would have been in charge of the franchise, would have changed the captain, he said: “100%, 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 the 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. A captain needs to take accountability.”

“It’s not only about one year, it’s not only about this. I have nothing against Virat Kohli but somewhere down the line, he needs to put his hand up and say, ‘yes, I am responsible. I am accountable’.

.@GautamGambhir says it is time for Bangalore to look beyond Virat Kohli as captain ????https://t.co/hbe8aQOUsg #T20Timeout pic.twitter.com/9ntEpG1uDY

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 7, 2020

“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. 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 highlighted.

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“The problem and the accountability starts from the top, not from the management nor the support staff, but from the leader. You’re the leader, you’re the captain. When you get the credit, you should take the criticism as well.”