Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s support helps current Indian skipper reinvent himself after a terrible England tour in 2014. Gambhir also praised Rahul Dravid for his overall contribution to Indian cricket in the Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
Gambhir on Kohli’s mental strength
Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman was speaking about Virat Kohli’s devastating England tour in 2014 where Laxman called the tour as ‘the catalyst for the change’ in Kohli. Gambhir agreed, “The sort of series it was in 2014, even I was there on that tour. You have to give credit to MS Dhoni because a lot of careers have ended after such a series, especially in one format. But he gave that kind of security to Virat Kohli plus his own eagerness.”
Gambhir also praised Kohli’s mental strength and ability to bounce back strongly. “If he was a mentally weak player, he could have said after that tour that his focus will only be on white-ball cricket. If he gets to play Test cricket it is fine else he will focus just on the other two formats. But credit needs to be given that he gave importance to Test cricket and conquered it.”
Gambhir calls Dravid the most under-rated captain
Gautam Gambhir said that out of the bunch of celebrated captains, Rahul Dravid is the one who does not get enough credit. Gambhir recalled, “I made my one-day debut under Sourav Ganguly and my Test debut under Rahul Dravid. It is so unfortunate that we do not give Rahul Dravid enough credit for his captaincy.”
He added, “Even his records, he’s probably the most under-rated cricketer and probably the most under-rated leader as well.” Gambhir opined, “For me, I think he has had a bigger impact. Sourav Ganguly has always had a bigger impact in white-ball cricket because of his flamboyance, but Rahul Dravid overall, in Indian cricket, had a much bigger impact than probably anyone.”
