Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels ex-captain Virat Kohli should focus on returning back to scoring ways for Team India after relinquishing the captaincy across all formats of the game. Kohli returned to form in the previous appearance for Team India which eventually marked the end of his captaincy reign as the most successful Test captain of India.
During a discussion on the Star Sports show, Gambhir was asked about the change fans can see in Kohli after relinquishing the captaincy role. Speaking about Kohli's new role in the white-ball series against hosts South Africa, ex-Indian opener Gambhir gave legendary captain MS Dhoni a special mention.
"What new do you want to see? Captaincy is not anyone's birth right. People like MS Dhoni have given the captaincy baton to Virat Kohli, he has played under Virat Kohli as well. He has won three ICC trophies and four IPL trophies as well," he said.
Gambhir, who believes captaincy is not anyone's "birthright", spoke at length about Kohli's role in the upcoming white-ball series between India and hosts South Africa. One of the most successful leaders in the history of the game, batting maestro Kohli stepped down as India's captain after the conclusion of the South Africa Test series.
“I think Kohli should look to score runs and that is more important. When you dream of playing for India, you don't dream to become a captain. You dream of winning games for India and nothing changes, except that you are not going out there to do the toss and set the field placement, but your energy and intensity should remain the same because it's an honor playing for the country,” the former World Cup-winner added.
Kohli is set to take up the role of a pure batter after relinquishing captaincy duties from T20I, Test formats and getting sacked as ODI captain in less than five months.
"Exactly the same what he had when he was captaining the side. Batting at No. 3, scoring lots and lots of runs and probably anchoring the innings as well. When Rohit Sharma comes in with KL Rahul at the top of the order, Kohli's role doesn't change one bit,” the former Indian opener further explained.
“As I just mentioned apart from not going for the toss and setting the field placements, rest everything remains the same. He has got to bat at No.3, he has got to score a lot of runs in white-ball cricket. So I am sure, I think nothing changes,” Gambhir concluded.
The focus now shifts towards the three-match ODI series, with the first game starting from January 19 at the Boland Park in Paarl.
