Former South African skipper AB de Villiers reckons lots of eyes and fingers will be pointed towards head coach Gautam Gambhir after India received a 0-4 drubbing in the T20I series against England. However, AB also questioned the performances of Indian batters in English conditions.
India could not deliver with both bat and ball and they were totally outplayed by the home team. The former RCB batter, de Villiers, said questions will be raised and this is a wake-up call for India’s T20I team.
“Lots to worry about in the T20Is. Lots of eyes and fingers will be pointed at Gambhir. Yes, he needs to take ownership of how this team will move forward. He’s got all the credentials to do so. Maybe this was not a bad thing to get a bit of a wake-up call. Bring those players who have scored a lot of runs in the IPL a little bit down to earth again. Let them understand that this is international cricket. You need to have more than one or two gears. You cannot play in the fifth gear all the time,” the former RCB batter said on his YouTube channel.
The former talismanic batter admitted the series result was absolutely shocking for him as he didn’t expect India to get beaten so badly.
He added, “It was tough to watch India going down 4-0. I did not see that coming. But also not completely unexpected because of the lack of experience and that is the word that comes to mind. The leadership becomes all the more important. I know there’s a lot of fingers pointed to Gautam Gambhir. It is not only him. He plays a huge role. But you will have to be patient with the make-up of that team. You don’t just get a new Bumrah, Virat, or Rohit overnight. It takes time. I think they could have played better and should have been more consistent. I felt they lacked a game plan at times.”
On the other hand, AB urged Indian batters to learn how to adapt to new conditions and formats from Virat Kohli.
“Virat’s recent form in ODIs, the scores speak for itself. It will be exciting to watch. He’s in scintillating form. He loves playing in the UK and loves that kind of challenge. That is a great example for the young batters coming through. Look at how he deals with different conditions. He can also be explosive in the IPL, but he does not keep it that way. Maybe it is a message to England in the Test format as well, to the batters,” he said.
Kohli was dismissed cheaply after scoring five runs in the opening ODI against England.
