RCB winning IPL 2020 or reaching the playoffs will be more important to Virat Kohli than the runs he scores: Gautam Gambhir
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has opined that the challenge in front of Virat Kohli will be to take Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to their maiden IPL title.
During an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected', Gautam Gambhir and Sanjay Bangar put forth their thoughts on the challenges confronting Virat Kohli both as a batsman and a captain in IPL 2020.
Sanjay Bangar was asked what Virat Kohli's biggest challenge will be as a captain in IPL 2020. He responded that the RCB captain would be happier this time as the franchise seems to have a balanced outfit for the upcoming IPL.
"It looks like Virat Kohli has a balanced team this time. Earlier they used to have a lot of dependency on their batting, their bowling was not considered as a strength for them."
The former Indian batting coach highlighted that the RCB management have tried to address their bowling concerns and have also added a few all-rounders to their squad.
"But their team management have tried to make a balanced team this time, to have more depth in their bowling and they have kept some all-rounders as well."
He also observed that the acquisition of Aaron Finch could have a positive impact on the franchise.
"The addition of Aaron Finch in the RCB squad could also have a huge impact."
Gautam Gambhir on the challenges before Virat Kohli
Gautam Gambhir was asked about the biggest challenge Virat Kohli would face as a batsman in IPL 2020. He replied that it would be the urgency to win the IPL title, with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni having won the tournament on multiple occasions.
"The biggest challenge for Virat Kohli the batsman is that they need to win the tournament necessarily. Rohit Sharma has won this tournament four times and MS Dhoni has won it three times."
He added that a player or captain is recognised by the titles he has won, so Virat Kohli would want to set the record straight.
"And you are captaining for the last 8 to 9 years. You might be scoring huge runs on your own, which he will score this time as well, but ultimately you want to win the trophy as a captain and as a player."
Gautam Gambhir observed that any captain would prefer to win the title for his team rather than looking for personal milestones.
"If you ask any captain if he would like to score 700 runs or win the tournament after scoring 500 runs, he will go for the latter."
He added that top-order batsmen like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would always have more opportunities to score lots of runs compared to those who bat in the middle order.
"And when someone opens the batting, whether it is Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma or I, when I was playing, we have more opportunities to score runs as compared to someone who plays in the middle order."
Gautam Gambhir signed off by stating that the biggest challenge in front of Virat Kohli would be to lead RCB to their maiden IPL title or at least take them through to the playoffs or finals, and that this would be more important than the runs he scores.
"So, opener will definitely score 500-700 runs but if you will ask the RCB captain, then the biggest challenge in front of Virat Kohli is that he scores runs but more important than that is to win the tournament or reach the playoffs or the finals."
RCB would be looking to clinch their maiden title in IPL 2020 after having finished as the runners-up on three occasions in the league. They have endured a dismal last three seasons, in which they failed to reach the playoffs and finished with the wooden spoon twice.