Former skipper Virat Kohli’s lukewarm form in the recently concluded 2-0 Test series win over Bangladesh isn’t worrying head coach Gautam Gambhir, who insisted that the star batter remains as hungry as he was when he made his debut and should not be judged after every match.
Kohli has made only one fifty, a 76 against South Africa at Centurion in December 2023, in his last eight innings, and him regaining his touch is crucial for India against New Zealand in a three-Test rubber starting in Bengaluru on Wednesday and during the five-match series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy against Australia next month.
Expressing his confidence on Kohli, the 42-year-old Gambhir said that there is still the hunger inside him to score runs which makes him a world class batter.
“See, my thoughts about Virat have always been very clear that he is a world-class cricketer. He has performed for such a long period of time. He is as hungry as when he made his debut. To now, his hunger is always there,” Gambhir said on Monday.
“That hunger is what makes him a world-class cricketer. I am sure that he will be hungry to get runs in this series and probably moving forward to Australia as well,” he added.
Reiterating his opinion that a player should not to be judged on the basis of a one bad match or a series, Gambhir said the prolific batter, once he gets into “those runs scoring phases”, is remarkably consistent.
“So, I am sure that he will be looking for these three Test matches in the series and then to Australia.” he said.
“You don’t keep judging people after every game. If you keep judging people after every game, that’s not fair on them. It’s a sport and people are bound to fail. But more importantly, I think if we can get the results, if people are doing what is needed of them to get the results in our favour, that is fine,” he noted.
The World Cup-winning opener said his job is to back the players and keep them hungry for success, particularly during a long season where India is scheduled to play eight more Test matches.
“Everyone doesn’t have the best days everyday. I think the kind of vibe we have is we keep backing our players. My job is to keep backing the players. My job is to keep selecting the best playing 11, not dropping anyone.”
“I’m sure everyone is hungry and they know there are eight Test matches in a row. So, this is probably the start of them looking at eight Test matches in a row and performing well,” said Gambhir.