Kohli still hungry for runs, no need to judge after every match: Gambhir

Virat Kohli’s return to Tests at home after 18 months or captain Rohit Sharma’s run with the bat against Bangladesh have not provided much to write home about, but head coach Gautam Gambhir is not unduly worried about it. India will be up against a much tougher challenge in the form of New Zealand as the three-Test series between the two gets underway in Bengaluru on Wednesday.  

Kohli, who is on the threshold of 9,000 Test runs, managed 6, 17, 47 and 29 in the last two Tests while Rohit could hardly spend time at the crease. When the question of the Big Two being due for big runs came up, Gambhir replied in his usual no nonsense style: ‘’See, you don’t keep judging people after every game. If you keep judging people after every game, that’s not fair to them. It’s a sport. People are meant to fail. More importantly, if people can get the results, if they are doing what is needed of them to get the results in our favour, that’s fine."

"There will be times when some people will succeed and some people will fail. If we keep judging our players after every innings, imagine how unfair that would be. It will be very hard," Gambhir, who turned 43 on Monday, told a press conference.  

Replying to a specific question on Kohli, Gambhir said the master batter’s hunger for the game has stayed as strong as when he began his career in an ODI series in Sri Lanka as Gambhir's rookie teammate. "My thoughts about Virat have always been very clear. He is a world-class cricketer. He has performed for such a long time. He is as hungry as when he made his debut,’’ Gambhir said. 

‘’I remember opening the batting with him when he made his debut in Sri Lanka to now, his hunger is always there. That’s what makes him a world class cricketer. I am sure he will be hungry to get runs in this series and probably moving forward to Australia as well. Once he gets into the run-scoring form, how consistent he can be. He will be looking forward to these three Tests and the series in Australia,’’ he added. 

Eight Tests ahead

The head coach said Indian players are aware of the crucial stretch of the World Test Championship cycle, saying the team is looking at the home series against New Zealand and the away series in Australia as a cluster of eight Tests in a row. However, they planned to take one series at a time and focus on the Kiwis, whom he had a lot of regards for, before focusing on Down Under.

 Replying to a question whether the trend of batter-dominated Test matches of the past are changing, the former India opener agreed and said time has come to change the obsession about batters.  ‘’This is an age for bowlers. See, the batters set up the matches for you, but it’s the bowlers who win the matches for us irrespective of the formats,’’ the former opener added.