Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, the two of the biggest cricketers in India, come from the sporting hotbed of the country, the city of Delhi. While they have achieved great successes on the field as teammates for India, including the ICC Cricket World Cup triumph in 2011, their relation on and off the field is nothing short of being fraught, most of the time.
At the current stage, Virat Kohli is still a big part of the scheme of things in Indian cricket, shouldering the responsibility of batting lineup for the last 15 years or so. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has moved towards commentary and coaching roles, after retiring from international cricket a few years ago.
In recent times, Gautam Gambhir has been very critical of Virat Kohli in commentary, about the way he plays his cricket and conducts himself on the field. These two almost came to blows on a cricket ground earlier this summer in the IPL 2023, while Kohli was a player for RCB and Gambhir was the mentor of LSG.
With that, SportsTiger looks back at the five comments of Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli that went viral.
1. “You can’t be a role model in this manner”
During the third and deciding Test of the three-match series in South Africa in January 2022, when a DRS call went against India, the captain Virat Kohli and most of his teammates weren’t too happy and reacted in disgust at the host broadcaster. Gautam Gambhir wasn’t too impressed with how the Indian team conducted itself at that time, while commenting on how Virat Kohli, the captain, wasn’t doing himself any favours by reacting like that either.
The 41-year-old was quoted as saying at that time, “No matter what you say, stuff like he (Virat Kohli) plays with his heart on his sleeve, this reaction was an exaggerated one and you can’t be a role model in this manner. No budding cricketers would want to see this kind of a reaction, especially from the Indian captain.”
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2. “Captaincy is not anyone’s birthright”
When Virat Kohli resigned as Indian captain, after losing the three-match Test series away against South Africa in January 2022, Gautam Gambhir was quick to point out that the captaincy baton keeps on moving forward and it’s not anyone’s birthright. He also talked about how Virat Kohli should look to score runs, which is the most important prerequisite of being in any team, let alone Team India.
“Captaincy is not anyone’s birthright. 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. I think Kohli should look to score runs and that is more important,” remarked Gautam Gambhir.
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3. “You don’t have to show your emotions (always)”
After India lost two back-to-back matches in a woeful manner against Pakistan and New Zealand in the early stages of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the captaincy of Virat Kohli was firmly under the scanner. Gautam Gambhir talked about how Virat Kohli shouldn’t be in the face of the opposition all the time, while discussing how he could have been calm, when the New Zealand batters found themselves in some trouble early in the innings.
“You don’t have to be on the face all the time. You don’t have to show your emotions (always), sometimes just your positivity and calmness can be equally positive (for) the group as well,” said Gautam Gambhir. “Just by reacting to everything doesn’t mean that you are more passionate than someone else,” he added.
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4. “Toh ab tu mujhe sikhayega”
One of the biggest sagas in the Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli story happened in May 2023, during an IPL game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants. These two cricketing superstars almost came to blows with each other on the field, before getting separated by the fellow players, coaching staff, and the officials at hand.
When Virat Kohli, who was playing for RCB, reportedly said, “Maine aapko kuch bola hi naahin, aap kyon ghus rahein ho’ (Why are you coming in between when I haven’t told you anything),” the mentor of LSG was having none of it. Gautam Gambhir responded, “Toh ab tu mujhe sikhayega…’ (So now I have to learn from you…),” in the presence of the eyewitnesses.
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5. “Virat Kohli has made this team”
When Team India was playing against Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), earlier this year, Gautam Gambhir spoke about how Rohit Sharma, the current Indian captain, is yet to create a template as the leader in the longest format. He went on to compare him with Virat Kohli, the former Indian captain, who was instrumental in giving the team a new identity in Test cricket, utilising the fast bowler like no predecessor before him.
Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying, “The real challenge for Rohit Sharma will be when he goes to Australia, South Africa and England because there were big challenges for Virat Kohli there. Virat Kohli has made this team, Mohammad Shami, Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar.”
