Gautam Gambhir urges Bangalore to sack Virat Kohli, says team didn't deserve playoffs spot

Former Indian men's cricket team opener Gautam Gambhir feels Virat Kohli should be held responsible for Bangalore's defeat to Hyderabad on Friday, which sealed their exit from the Dream11 IPL 2020 playoffs. Bangalore, who are yet to bring home the coveted trophy, stuttered massively during the latter stages of their 2020 campaign, losing five straight matches, leading to their elimination in the playoffs.

Virat Kohli, who has been the captain of the franchise for eight years now, should not remain in his position after repeatedly failing in the tournament, said Gautam Gambhir. The former Kolkata captain told ESPNcricinfo after Friday's Hyderabad vs Bangalore match that Kohli "needs to take accountability" as a captain of the team. 

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Under Kohli's leadership, Bangalore have made the playoffs just twice in eight seasons, including a 2016 final defeat in the hands of Hyderabad itself. Since 2016, the team finished at the bottom in two of the last three seasons - 2017 and 2019.

"Tell me any other captain - forget about captain - tell me any other player who would have got eight years and wouldn't have won the title and would have still continued with it. So it has to be accountability. A captain needs to take accountability," Gambhir said on Friday. "It's not only about one year, it's not only about this. I have nothing against Virat Kohli but somewhere down the line, he needs to put his hand up and say, 'yes, I am responsible, I am accountable.'"

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Gambhir even cited the example of Ravichandran Ashwin, who was fired as a captain just after two seasons at Punjab. The 39-year-old World Cup winner said MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have lasted very long as captains because they have delivered with winning trophies - Sharma has won 4 titles with Mumbai while Dhoni has won 3 of them with Chennai. Gambhir thinks Rohit Sharma wouldn't have lasted as captain of Mumbai if he failed to win a trophy in eight years. 

"There should not be different yardsticks for different people," Gautam Gambhir said demanding accountablity from Virat Kohli

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Hyderabad vs Bangalore

Bangalore's Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign came to an end on Friday night which marked yet another disappointing campaign for Kohli and co. The team could only muster 131 in the first inning, which was easily chased by Hyderabad. Kohli even failed to deliver with the bat, returning to the dugout after scoring just six in seven balls. 

Gautam Gambhir does not believe Bangalore deserved to qualify for the playoffs. The former cricketer said during the post-match show that Kohli's team were extremely fortunate to find themselves in the playoffs, especially considering their form over the last four or five games. 

Bangalore lost four in a row and achieved qualification only because of their superior run rate. "If you see the last four or five games, and even that one Super Over against Mumbai Indians, they were very fortunate that Navdeep Saini bowled that over brilliantly. Otherwise, they didn't have a great season. From the batting point of view and the bowling," Gambhir added. 

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(Image Credits: PTI, IPL Twitter)