Srinagar: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has taken another dig at Team India star batter Virat Kohli, advising former India skipper to play for team and not for personal glory.
Team India start its T20 World Cup 2022 campaign later this week against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Virat Kohli has an excellent record in the shortest format of the game in Australia, winning the Player of the Tournament (POTM) twice.
Reacting to Kohli’s outstanding achievements and discussing the mindset the ex-Indian captain must adopt in the flagship event, Gambhir said strongly that he must help the team win rather than focus on his own records. Gambhir urged Kohli to provide match-winning performances.
“Go with the mindset of runs, what else can there be? The role of a batter is to make runs, the role of the bowler is take wickets. Make runs that help your team. Not runs that just go in your record or add to your 500 or 100 tally. Make 40 or 30 but help your team reach 170-180. If you are chasing, bat in a manner where you can relieve the lower middle-order of pressure,” Gambhir Star Sports in the pre-match show of India’s first warm-up game vs Australia.
“In these tournaments, individuals have no value and should be left at home. If you are going to Australia, pack them in India. If you make 200 runs and your team wins the world cup that is your legacy. If you make 500 runs and the team does not qualify, those runs only go in your individual record. If the whole team is criticised, you will be part of it,” said Gambhir.
Both Kohli and Gambhir were part of India’s World Cup-winning team in 2011.