IPL 2020: Question marks over Virat Kohli's captaincy justified

Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) failure to be in contention for the Indian Premier League (IPL) title once again has met with vitriolic reactions.

Not just on regular media platforms, but there has been all-round criticism towards RCB on social media as well with emphasis on Virat Kohli's failure as a leader.

Unprecedented criticism

Never before has so much criticism been directed at Kohli for his leadership in the white-ball format as during this year's IPL. It was building for a while and the exit in the Eliminator for RCB seems to have just made the reactions that much more vocal this time around. It was the fifth successive loss for RCB and their exit was not unexpected because of the string of defeats.

The criticism for Kohli started flowing thick and fast. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir was more than direct. His unsparing comments on why RCB needed to replace Kohli was the first reaction from a former cricketer which seemed to trigger reactions from fans.

Gambhir had a point when he spoke about Kohli's eight-year tenure as RCB skipper yielding no results.

When asked if RCB should look beyond Kohli as captain, Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo: "Hundred per cent because the problem is about accountability. Eight years into the tournament [without a trophy]...eight years is a long time. Tell me any other player forget about captain who would have got eight years, wouldn't have won the title and would have still continued."

Gambhir's long-term teammate and opening partner Virender Sehwag disagreed with his contention that Kohli should be replaced. More importantly, RCB's coaching staff too backed Kohli's leadership skills.

"From a leadership point of view, we are very fortunate to have him [Kohli]. He is highly professional and very well respected by the team," RCB head coach Simon Katich said during a media interaction.

"He is very invested in his group and spent a lot of time with the younger players, particularly Devdutt Padikkal. That's the kind of sight a lot of people don't see. We hung in the contest and fought right till the end and Virat can take a lot of credit for that."

RCB's exit seems to be just the trigger for another debate around Kohli's failure to win a trophy as a white-ball captain. Talk even extended to his tenure as India captain. He led India in the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup, failing to win both titles.

Poor record

In fact, in the last three years since Kohli became India's full-time white-ball captain, the two titles that have been won - Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup - has come under Rohit's leadership.

With Mumbai Indians going from strength to strength in the IPL yet again, Rohit's leadership in white-ball cricket has reignited talk around split captaincy in white-ball formats for India.

Then, there is the issue of Kohli's form in knockout games as captain. The failure in the crucial Eliminator also brought that issue to the fore. Kohli's overall form was under a cloud. Except for a couple of knocks, he always seemed to be searching for runs. He made a total of 466 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 121.35.

While this IPL will have no bearing on India's tour of Australia or his form, there will still be heated discussions over his leadership. And if Rohit does manage to lead Mumbai Indians to yet another IPL title, expect the debate to heat up further on split captaincy for India.

Interesting times ahead!

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