Narine

[Ani32810]

If anyone saw the KKR game colin de grandhommeyesterday, you will know about the records broken. But this isn't going to be about that. This is going to be a criticism on Virat Kohli and an appreciation of Gautam Gambhir. With regards to Kohli, he needs to get his field placement right. If you look at the 13th over, you will see a man at covers and a man at long-off. That was simply a waste of a fielder and somebody needs to tell Kohli to improve this. Next, as you will look at the post-match interview you will hear Kohli state "We thought we had enough on the board." That was a very stupid statement to make. 160 runs are never enough in a t20 game, especially in the IPL and more specifically Banglore (where the par score is 180 runs in the past 10 years of IPL). Furthermore, blaming your entire team just shows a lack of responsibility with regards to Kohli's own form in the IPL this year. He has an average of 14 runs which is simply pathetic from a captain. This was also an issue towards the latter stage of Dhoni's career which could have been a major reason as to why Dhoni decided to step down. It is important to lead from the front and Kohli has lacked that important aspect of captaincy. Kohli's captaincy is crucial because of the upcoming Champions trophy and he needs to find form and lead in a better fashion or we will see India perish the same way RCB has in this season of the IPL. 
To my next point, Gambhir. He has proven he is capable with the bat and he is capable of captaincy from the front. With the bat, he has scored 380+ runs this season and he held the orange cap for a while this year. He should definitely be given a chance to open for India before the Champions trophy. I dare say he should be given captaincy. Which brings me to my next point: his master-stroke Narine. Simply beautiful, marvelous and out of the box thinking. Making Narine open the innings as an experiment has proven really successful. Eventhough, Narine was not able to perform to his standards with the ball, he has excelled in all fronts with the bat. With regards to numbers, he far exceeds Kohli. In a way, it should be a wake-up call for Kohli that a tail-ender is doing much better than him. Lastly, Gambhir has done somewhat of an average job with his team placements, but at the end of the day it's the wins that matter and he has done that. Colin de grandhomme was a surprise pick for KKR. Furthermore, dropping Uthappa was also surprising. But hey, who's complaining? He is delivering and that is all that matters.

 

 

 

[Ultimate_Game]

I love Gambhir as much as anyone but the guy's time is up. Picking Gambhir will be a regressive move when the team is crying out for fresh legs. I would rather go with Pant than Gambhir coz we need to look to the future.

[Pollack]

Gambhir's chapter is closed. Dhoni's just closing but some air from somewhere saves the chapter being closed.

BTW Gambhir on record has said it was management decision to send Narine to open. Unlike Dhoni he is not credit stealer.

 

[nevada]

Every player goes through a bad patch or two. Kohli is no different. The ODI format of CT will provide him the perfect opportunity to work his way back to form. Regarding Gambhir - he is doing great in IPL playing with passion and enjoying the sport. It seems unfair that Yuvi and Dhoni who are of the same age keep getting picked but he is left out because of age. I am not happy with their selection either. Dhoni is still sharp as a keeper but Yuvi is not quick in the field and while he will have the odd big innings or two, he cannot be expected to consistently bat and field well.