Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has opined that former skipper Virat Kohli will come good with the bat in the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka and that the former India captain was never burdened by captaincy. India will meet Sri Lanka in the first match of the series in Mohali on March 4.
While speaking during a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar quipped that Kohli showed no signs of struggling with the captaincy as he amassed runs at will.
"Kohli, when he was captain, he showed that there were no effects of the burden of captaincy. He was reeling off hundreds just every other innings. So don't think captaincy was ever a burden on him."
On other hand, ex-Indian opener Gavaskar did mention that there are certain areas that Kohli needs to do some work on.
"As a captain what happens is that you are concerned about everybody else. It's just a natural thing, you are concerned about your bowlers' forms, maybe there is a slight niggle injury, as a batting unit maybe your No.4 or No.5 are not getting the runs, getting out badly.
{{/usCountry}}"As a captain what happens is that you are concerned about everybody else. It's just a natural thing, you are concerned about your bowlers' forms, maybe there is a slight niggle injury, as a batting unit maybe your No.4 or No.5 are not getting the runs, getting out badly.
{{/usCountry}}"So you might be scoring runs yourselves as a captain but you are always concerned about everybody else in the team. That is where you can't focus on your batting. As not a captain, you can focus entirely on your batting. That is the biggest advantage that you can have.
“But now I think it's a question of him getting used to the fact that he is not calling the shots. As long as he is delivering the shots with the bat, nothing else is mattering,” elaborated cricketer-turned-broadcaster Gavaskar.
Meanwhile. Kohli is preparing for his 100th Test at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. As captain of the Test side, Kohli scored 5864 runs in 68 Tests at a staggering average of 54.80.