Sehwag Defends Kohli, Says Captain Only as Good as His Team

Since RCB exited IPL 2020 against SRH in the eliminator on Friday, experts have questioned the leadership of Kohli.

Virender Sehwag spoke in favour of Virat Kohli’s leadership qualities.

(Image: BCCI)

Since the Royal Challengers Bangalore exited IPL 2020 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator on Friday evening, experts have questioned the leadership of Virat Kohli.

Kohli took over the captaincy in 2013 at RCB but the side’s fortunes have not improved as they continue to wait for the elusive title. They qualified for the knockouts for the first time in four years in 2020 and failed to have any impact.

After Gautam Gambhir’s critical comments, former India opener Virender Sehwag opened up on the matter and in fact took a stand very different to his former opening partner, much like their contrasting styles of batting.

“A captain is only as good as his team. When Virat Kohli captains India, he is able to deliver the results. He wins matches – ODIs, T20Is Tests. But when he captains RCB, his team is not able to perform,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“It is very important for the captain to have a good team. So, I believe the management should not try and think of changing their captain and rather think of how they can improve this team. Who all should be added to the team to make sure their performance improves?” he added.

However, Sehwag criticised RCB’s unsettled batting order, saying that the team is over-reliant on their captain and AB de Villiers.

RCB Captain Virat Kohli wears a dejected look during the game against SRH.(Image: BCCI/IPL)

For Sehwag, much like Sunil Gavaskar’s thoughts, RCB need a decent lower-order batsman to relieve the pressure from Kohli and de Villiers.

“Every team has a settled batting order but RCB have never had that. It’s only ABD and Virat, who keep shuffling up and down the order,” Sehwag said.

“With Padikkal coming to the fore, I reckon RCB need to have one more opener and a good lower-order batsman. These five batsmen should be enough to win them matches. The same way, they’d have to trust their Indian fast bowlers. Everyone gets taken to the cleaners. It’s not as if Rabada, Morris and others haven’t been taken for runs,” he added.