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The South African team bounced back in an emphatic manner in the second Test, at the Wanderers, in Johannesburg against India to level the three-match Test series. India Test team skipper Virat Kohli was not a part of the squad due to injury issues and batsman KL Rahul led the side in his absence. And unsurprisingly, after the defeat, Rahul had to face a lot of criticism and backlash because of his style of leadership.
Gambhir's words
And now, former India opener Gautam Gambhir has expressed his views on this matter. According to Gambhir, Indian team did miss the leadership of Kohli in the second Test match.
“We definitely missed Virat Kohli the batsman. Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Rohit Sharma, these are the type of batters you miss. And it is difficult to find their replacement, no matter what form they are in, because the expectation remains that they will score those big runs. But Kohli the captain, we missed him as well because he is so experienced and things turn simpler for experienced captains because they have been around for long,” Gambhir said in a television show.
The former World-Cup winning batsman thinks that the more time Rahul spends, the better he will learn. According to the former left-handed batsman a player must be an aggressive captain but not by attitude rather with his field placements.
This is not like ODI or T20I captaincy
“But KL Rahul, the more time he spends, the better he will learn, but the faster he learns the better it is. This is not like ODI or T20I captaincy, which is far easier because you don't have to focus much on field placements. In Test cricket you need to buy the wickets, sometimes even gamble with your choices.
“Like in the case of Bavuma, had he placed three slips instead of keeping one at the cover and tempt him into playing the drive maybe there could have been an opportunity for caught behind. But he kept a deep point which was a defensive mindset and it is something that he should be told about. You need to be an aggressive captain, not by attitude, but with your field placements,” he explained.
