Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has opened on KL Rahul’s captaincy and feels the youngster will get to learn better when he will spend more time in the middle as a leader.
Rahul was handed over the captaincy reins in the second Test match against South Africa as Virat Kohli was ruled out due to an upper back spasm.
Gambhir added that Team India not only missed the services of Virat Kohli, the batter but also missed his experience as a leader. Kohli is well known for his aggressive captaincy in the Test format and he has savored great success in the red-ball version. In fact, India has never lost under Kohli’s leadership when the opposition has to chase more than 150 runs in the second innings.
“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,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, Gambhir reckons KL Rahul could have been more aggressive with his field placements in South Africa’s second innings of the Wanderers Test. The former Delhi player added that KL Rahul should have put an extra slip for Temba Bavuma when he came to the crease.
India had set up a target of 240 runs and a lot of cricket boffins thought that the tourists were favorites in the second innings but Dean Elgar played a gritty knock of 96 runs to help his team get over the line.
“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.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will return to the playing XI in the third Test match and he is expected to replace Hanuma Vihari in the side. Kohli will look to deliver the goods both as a leader as well as a batter.
The third Test match will be played at Cape Town from January 11.
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